Immigrant Olympians
My favorite race to watch on the track is the 1,500 meters, and the U.S. Olympic Trials finals last night produced a good one.
It was also notable because the top three finishers -- the three men who qualified to represent the United States in Beijing next month -- are naturalized American citizens.
They are:
Bernard Lagat, originally from Kenya ...
Lopez Lamong from Sudan ...
and Leonel Manzano, born in Mexico.
That's what makes this a great country.
Other notes:
A young American middle-distance runner to watch is Jack Bolas from Chapel Hill. He runs for the University of Wisconsin and made it as far as the Olympic trials semifinals.
Former Carolina runners will represent the U.S. in four events on the track: Alice Schmidt in the 800, Erin Donohue in the 1,500 and Shalane Flanagan in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. Flanagan holds the American records in her events. Former Duke runner Shannon Rowbury led qualifiers in the 1,500.
Comments (1)
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Form follows function. If you start running to escape dudes from another tribe or religion who want to chop you up with machetes and stuff, or if you're running from La Migra, you're going to get some wheels.
Posted on July 7, 2008 10:24 AM