Has America fallen from the top of the athletic pantheon?

The United States use to dominant track meets. Whether it was short sprints, the metric mile, the jumps or anything in between, you could expect Americans in the final. Now, we have seen the American’s performance diminish in recent years. Instead, we have to recruit and naturalize citizens from different countries to stand a chance in the national and international level.

Take Bernard Lagat; He won the 1500m run in the 2004 Olympics for his native country Kenya. He had a successful career, and could have easier continued running in Kenya or retired, but he wanted more than running. He wanted a better life. In 2007, he became a naturalized U.S. citizen. And as expected, there was more running from Lagat. He competed in the 2007 U.S. Nationals, and won easily. When he competed in 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Japan, there was signs of hostility. Kenyian runners would block Lagat from making a move. They employed a smart tactic, considering that Lagat usually runs alone.One runner would “rabbit” Lagat, while another would run adjacent to Lagat.

It could just be supremacy breeds ignorance and hatred, but does the United States really has a right to lure Lagat away from Kenya? It’s not Lagat’s fault that he wants to ensure a future for his family. Sure, we are in state of peace, but does that condone immigration to move Lagat in front of everyone in immigrating into the United States?


What about our collegiate track runners?

Well, our top college track and field programs have been importing some of the world’s best athletes these past 20 years, such as Isa Phillips(LSU), Richard Thompson(LSU), Richardo Chambers(FSU) and most notably NBC’s color commentator Ato Boldon.

Born in Trinidad, Boldon was the youngest athlete to run under ten seconds. However, he attended college in the states. He started post-secondary school at San Jose Community College, and performed remarkably to get noticed by college scouts. Eventually he transferred to UCLA and turned professional shortly after.

Our homegrown talent is still there, but not as exceptional to meet the world’s current standards.

If this past week has proven anything, it has shown that the United States is not as dominant as before. Smaller countries are finding bigger resources outside their boundaries to pursue their goals.

And as for our “homebred athletes”, they are getting overworked. I have never seen this magnitude of U.S. athletes using kinesis tape. Our best athletes cannot compete at major competitions because their coaches have them run too many races early. If they do compete, it is not at their best.

Why do you think the United States always changes the people they sent to international venues? They have to record a qualifying time, and then race 3-4 hard races within 2-3 days just to be qualify onto the national team.