Posted: April 19, 2005

Athletics: Lagat Gained U.S. Citizenship Last Year; Now Pending Us Record Holder

By Bob Ramsak, Track Profile

(c) 2004 Track Profile all rights reserved TrackProfile.com

Contrary to reports published last week, Olympic 1500 meter silver medallist Bernard Lagat received U.S. citizenship prior to the 2004 Olympic Games, according to a report published today in the Chicago Tribune, raising questions about whether Lagat will be allowed to keep his 2004 Olympic medal.

"I can confirm that I have been a naturalised United States citizen since May 7, 2004," Lagat said in a statement issued yesterday, after Tribune reporter, Philip Hersh, told the runner that he received documentation that conflicted with the date Lagat reported last week. In his statement, Lagat said that he realizes that his statement last week "may have been misleading due to the omission of this fact."

Many countries allow dual citizenship; the United States does, Kenya does not. How strictly Kenya chooses to enforce the law may ultimately decide the fate of not only Lagat's medal, but how one of the finest ever Olympic 1500 meter races will be remembered.

"I did not release information about having become a US citizen last year, nor contact USATF at the time, because I considered it to be a personal matter," Lagat said, adding that the March 29, 2005 date reported last week was the date he received his U.S. passport.

"I decided then that it was an appropriate time to declare publicly that I was a U.S. citizen and to initiate the process of becoming eligible to run for the United States," Lagat said.

"As mentioned in my release, I thought long and hard about becoming a U.S. citizen but I also have strong sentimental attachments to Kenya and decided to try finish my career in a Kenyan running vest on a high note at last summer's Olympics, which I could do because I still possessed a Kenyan passport."

Whether Lagat gets to keep his Olympic medal or not, he may have unwittingly already entered the U.S. record book after his 3:27.40 win in the 1500 meters last August, 6 in Zurich. USATF rules only state that an athlete has to be a U.S. citizen competing in a sanctioned competition to be eligible to set a national record. The current U.S. record in the 1500 meters is 3:29.77, set by Sydney Maree in 1985. Indoors, USATF recognizes Jeff Atkinson's 3:38.12 (1989) as the 1500 meter indoor record and Steve Scott's 3:51.8 (1981) as the indoor record in the mile. At the Powered By Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville on Feb. 11, Lagat won the mile in 3:49.89 and clocked, according to the IAAF performance list, 3:33.34 en route for 1500 meters. The U.S. governing body officially ratifies records once a year, at its annual meeting usually held in December.

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