Bernard Lagat
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| Bernald Lagat | |
| Height | 5'9" (175 cm) |
|---|---|
| Weight | 134 lbs (61 kg) |
| Born | December 12, 1974 at Kapsabet, Kenya |
| Current Residence | Tucson AZ |
| High School | Kaptel HS (Kenya) '94 |
| College | Washington State |
| Coach | James Li |
| Agent | James Templeton |
| Club | Nike |
Bernard Kipchirchir Lagat (1974-) is a middle and long distance champion athlete who now represents the United States. In July, 2008, Lagat won the US Olympic Trials in the 1500 m and 5000 m, making the US Olympic team in both events. He has been a US citizen since May 7, 2004.
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Early Life
Lagat was born in Kaptel village, near Kapsabet town in Nandi District. His date of birth coincides with Jamhuri Day, the independence day of Kenya. He is a Nandi, sub-tribe of the Kalenjin people. He graduated from the Kaptel High School in 1994, where he had started his athletics career.
He enrolled in the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) in Nairobi 1996. Later in the same year he moved to Washington State University where he competed on the track team and graduated in 2000 with a degree in management information systems. While at WSU, he won the 1999 NCAA Outdoor 5000m and the 1999 NCAA Indoor Mile and 3000m.
Lagat's older sister Mary Chepkemboi is also a runner and won the 3000m at the 1984 African Athletics Championships. Lagat married Gladys Toms (a Canadian of Chinese descent), who he met while they both attended WSU, on October 10, 2004, and their son Miika Kimutai was born on January 12, 2006.[1]
Controversies
Lagat was among several Kenyan athletes, along with Richard Limo and Reuben Kosgei, who were heavily criticized for not representing their country in the 2002 Commonwealth Games. Instead, the runners chose to compete in the IAAF Golden League, which offered prize money.
Lagat pulled out of the 2003 World Championships in Athletics in Paris, France, after being told he had tested positive for erythropoietin, (EPO), on August 8, 2003 while competing in Germany.[2] He was suspended from competition, but this was later lifted when a B sample tested negative. On hearing this good news he issued a statement saying "I hope this outcome will also remove any suggestion that I have ever taken drugs."[3]
The Journey from Kenyan To US Citizenship
In March, 2005, Lagat announced that he was naturalized as a citizen of the United States on May 7, 2004, before he competed for Kenya in the 2004 Summer Olympics. Since Kenya does not allow dual citizenship, his silver medal in the 1500 m is in question, depending on how Kenya interprets its own laws. Under IAAF Rules of Competition 5(2)(c), an athlete who has competed for one country and switches to another, cannot compete for three years, unless both countries agree, in which case, the athlete is ineligible for 12 months. For this reason Lagat was ineligible to compete in the 2005 World Championships. (A similar switch of nationality, in this case Kenyan to Danish, caused Wilson Kipketer to miss the 1996 Olympic Games.) Today, Lagat lives in Tucson AZ.
Records
The U.S. does allow dual citizenship and consequently races run by Lagat after May 7, 2004 could have been ratified as American records, since 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. However, at the 2005 USATF annual meeting, his 3:27.40 win in the 1500 meters, on August, 6, 2004, in Zurich, was not ratified as an American record.
Nevertheless, Lagat owns three American records from races he had run in 2005 that were ratified by USATF. His first American records came indoors, with a 3:49.89 mile at Fayetteville, Arkansas, on February 11, 2005, during which his 1500 meters split time of 3:33.34 also established another new U.S. record, en route to a win in the event. The performance replaced records by Steve Scott, who set the previous American indoor mile record of 3:51.8 in 1981, and the previous American 1500 meter indoor record held by Jeff Atkinson, who ran 3:38.12 in 1989. Lagat's winning time of 3:29.40 at Rieti, Italy, on August 28, 2005, in the outdoor 1500 meters was ratified as his third new American record, improving upon the old record of 3:29.77, set by Sydney Maree in 1985.
On June 4, 2010, Lagat set a new American record of 12:54.12 in the 5,000m at the 2010 ExxonMobil Bislett Games in Oslo, Norway.[4]
Career highlights
Lagat's greatest achievement have come primarily in 1500 meter races, which have included:
| Competition | Rank | Time | Place | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 Summer Universiade | 1 | x | Spain. | 1999 | x |
| 2000 Sydney Olympics | 3 | 3:32.44 | Sydney. | 2000 | Noah Ngeny(1), Hicham El Guerrouj(2) |
| 2001 World Championships | 2 | 3:31.10 | Edmonton, Canada. | 2001 | Hicham El Guerrouj(1) |
| 2002 IAAF World Cup | 1 | 3:31.20 | Madrid, Spain. | 2002 | x |
| 2002 African Championships | 1 | 3:38.11 | Tunis, Tunisia. | 2002 | x |
| 2003 World Indoor | 2 | 3:42.62 | Birmingham, UK. | 2003 | x |
| 2003 World Championships | DNS | DNS | Paris | 2003 | was suspended from competition |
| 2004 World Indoor | 1 | 7:56.34 (3000 m) | Budapest, Hungary. | 2004 | First international gold medal |
| 2004 Athens Olympics | 2 | 3:34.30 | Athens, Greece. | 2004 | Hicham El Guerrouj(1) |
| 2006 US Championships | 1 | 13:14.32 (5000 m) | Indianapolis | 2006 | (1 of 2) |
| 2006 US Championships | 1 | 3:39.29 | Indianapolis | 2006 | (2 of 2) |
| 2007 US Championships | 1 | 13:30.73 (5000 m) | Indianapolis | 2007 | (1 of 2) |
| 2007 US Championships | 3 | 3:35.55 | Indianapolis | 2007 | Alan Webb(1), Leonel Manzano(2) |
| 2007 World Championships | 1 | 3:34.77 | Osaka | 2007 | First international outdoor gold medal |
| 2007 World Championships | 1 | 13:45.87 (5000 m) | Osaka | 2007 | 2nd international outdoor gold medal |
| 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials | 1 | 13:27.47 (5000 m) | Eugene, Oregon | 2008 | Qualified for US Olympic team[5] |
| 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials | 1 | 3:40.37 | Eugene, Oregon | 2008 | Qualified for US Olympic team[6] |
At the 2009 Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden in New York, Lagat tied Eamonn Coghlan’s all-time record of seven victories in the legendary Wanamaker Mile. In 2009, Lagat ran a 3:32.56 in a 1500m at a Tangiers track meet, his fastest time since 2006, and he will competed for the US in the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in both the 1500m and the 5000m.[1]
Each year from 2005 through 2008, Lagat has won USATF's Glenn Cunningham Award as its outstanding male athlete in events of 800 meters and longer.
External links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://www.iaaf.org/mm/Document/Athletes/Athletes/05/10/95/20090717071549_httppostedfile_Paris_Men_12279.pdf Retrieved 2007-07-20.
- ↑ Lagat fails drugs test. BBC Sport. (2003-09-03)
- ↑ Lagat given all-clear. BBC Sport. (2003-10-01)
- ↑ http://www.usatf.org/news/view.aspx?duid=USATF_2010_06_04_14_16_24 Retrieved 2010-06-06.
- ↑ USATF - Events - 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Track & Field - Men 5000 m
- ↑ USATF - Events - 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Track & Field - Men 1500 m