Olympic Series ---Trading Culture, and Horticulture - Bernard Lagat

Right now, the only team trade we hear about in the news is Brett Favre to the NY Jets.

I'm not even a football fan, and I know about that. But with the Olympics going on, I've been thinking about a different kind of team exchange.

When I was reading the most recent Runner's World issue with tons of Olympic features, I came across an article stating that this summer is the US of A's best chance at our first ever gold medal in the men's 1500. The last medal that we won in the event was in 1968 when Jim Ryun earned silver. The man who hopes to do better is Bernard Lagat, Kenyan-born and raised, I couldn't help but ponder where the honor truly was in this golden opportunity.

World Athletics Championships 2007 in Osaka - Men's 1500 metres winner Bernard Lagat celebrating.
Wikipidia, Eckhard Pecher

Lagat, a native of Kenya, has lived in the US for the last 12 years attending school and running at Washington State University. His potential was evident 1999 when he was NCAA Champ in the outdoor 5000 and in the indoor 1500 and 3000. His career was marked by many other highlights, including World Championships, but he just missed the Olympic Gold medal in 2004 in the 1500 by 12 one-hundredths of a second. Four years earlier in Syndey, Austrailia, he earned Bronze.

Both years, he was representing Kenya.

My initial feeling about the US's best chance for gold - it was a gift that we didn't quite deserve. After years of a hardware drought in this event, our best chance is in the form of a Kenyan super-athlete who happened to make his way to the US.

I hope this does not come off as racially charged. It isn't, at all. Allow me to use a cheesy metaphor to explain:

You grow tomatoes. I grow tomatoes. For years, I've been entering my produce at the county fair, but lose every time. As a gift, you give me your largest one, and I take it to the fair and win the award for the Largest Tomato. I accept the title of Master Gardener; I get to hang up the winning banner on my front porch; I get the WINNER OF THE LARGEST TOMATO bumper sticker to put on my car.

Something doesn't settle quite right, does it?

The further I read the article though, the more I warmed up to the idea. In May, 2004 he achieved his US Citizenship (despite representing Kenya in the '04 Olympics; the duel citizenship almost cost him his silver medal). In the article he was quoted: "The Kenyans will be running for Kenya, and I'll be running for America. It's my one and only country now." Of the US's failure for a gold medal in the 1500 up until this point, he not only takes a stand but affirms his loyalty: "It's our time now."

I was talking about this switch-a-roo with a pretty smart guy, and his feelings are that America welcomes every nationality to our turf, offering the opportunity to achieve citizenship to anyone who wants it. Should our Olympic team not represent this, too?

Interestingly, all three qualifiers to represent the US in the men's 1500 are foreign-born American Citizens. Leo Manzano is from Mexico, runs for the Texas Longhorns, and gained citizenship to the US in 2004.

Lopez Lomong was born in Sudan and was a Darfur refugee. China, an investor in Sudan's economy and supporter of the war in Darfur, has close ties to the country. As a clear political statement, the US asked Lomong to lead the US athletes and carry the flag into the Olympic ceremony.

What I've read of Manzano and Lomong so far, it seems that they are proud to run for our country because of the opportunity we provided them with here - opportunity that is not available in their own countries - and representing the US is their way of giving back.

Lagat's been here 12 years. Perhaps this 'mato was not just a 'mato, but a plant. You gave me your tomato plant, and I nurtured him and fed him and finished what you began. He is proud to represent my garden now.

And we're proud to have him. Where is the honor, exactly? That Athletes such as Lagat want to be here.

Interesting Article on the Topic:
In an article in YAHOO sports, Jill Geer of USA Track and Field was quoted: “I don’t think of any of our foreign-born athletes as foreign. In USATF, no one considers them anything but American, and I’m not saying that just because it’s the right thing to say." The article continues discussing the message sent when supporting foreign-born athletes on our Olympic US team about immigration. That article can be found at http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/news?slug=ap-immigrantolympians&prov=ap&type=lgns.