Bernard Lagat
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| Medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's Athletics | |||
| Olympic Games | |||
| Silver | 2004 Athens | 1,500 m | |
| Bronze | 2000 Sydney | 1,500 m | |
| World Championships | |||
| Silver | 2001 Edmonton | 1,500 m | |
| World Indoor Championships | |||
| Silver | 2003 Birmingham | 1,500 m | |
Bernard Kipchirchir Lagat (b. December 12, 1974, Kapsabet, Kenya) is a middle and long distance athlete.
Contents |
[edit] Education
In 2000, Lagat graduated from Washington State University --as athletic greats Henry Rono and Michael Kosgei from Kenya had done before him-- with a degree in management information systems.
[edit] Controversy
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, which were held in Manchester, England. Instead, the runners chose to chase the prize money offered in the IAAF Golden League.
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 whilst competing in Germany.[1] 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."
[edit] From Kenyan to US citizen
In March, 2005, Lagat announced that he had become a naturalized citizen of the United States since May 7, 2004, despite competing for Kenya in the 2004 Summer Olympics. Since Kenya does not allow dual citizenship his silver medal in the 1500m is at stake, depending on how Kenya interprets its own laws (as of May, 2005, no additional news has arisen on this issue). Due to this switch of nationality, Lagat will have to serve a ban from international championship events. For this reason he missed the IAAF World Championships in Helsinki. A similar switch of nationality, in this case Kenyan to Danish, caused Wilson Kipketer to miss the 1996 Olympic Games.
[edit] American track and field records
The US does allow dual citizenship and consequently races run by Lagat after May 7, 2005 could have been ratified as American records, since USA Track & Field (USATF) rules only state that an athlete has to be a US 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 US 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.
[edit] Major achievements
Lagat's greatest achievement have come primarily in 1500 meter races, which have included:
| Competition | Rank | Time | Place | Date | etc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 Summer Universiade | 1 | x | Spain. | 1999 | x |
| 2000 Sydney Olympics | 3 | x | Sydney. | 2000 | Noah Ngeny(1), Hicham El Guerrouj(2) |
| 2001 World Championships | 2 | x | Edmonton, Canada. | 2001 | Hicham El Guerrouj(1) |
| 2002 IAAF World Cup | 1 | x | Madrid, Spain. | 2002 | x |
| 2002 African Championships | 1 | x | Tunis, Tunisia. | 2002 | x |
| 2003 World Indoor | 2 | x | Birmingham, UK. | 2003 | x |
| 2003 World Championships | x | x | Paris | 2003 | was suspended from competition |
| 2004 Athens Olympics | 2 | x | Athens, Greece. | 2004 | Hicham El Guerrouj(1) |
| 2005 World Championships | x | x | Helsinki | 2005 | baned due to nationality switch |
[edit] External links
- IAAF profile for Bernard Lagat
