From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Tue Nov 03 2009 - 13:05:27 EST
http://www.cnbc.com/id/33603449
What I Got Wrong About Keflezighi
Published: Tuesday, 3 Nov 2009 | 11:54 AM ET
Text Size <http://www.cnbc.com/id/33603449#><http://www.cnbc.com/id/33603449#>
By: Darren Rovell
CNBC Sports Business Reporter
Yesterday, I wrote an article about New York City Marathon men's winner Meb
Keflezighi. Let me be clear: Meb Keflezighi is an American and any
suggestion otherwise is wrong.
The debate currently on the blogosphere is over whether or not Keflezighi
should count as the first American man winner of the race even though he was
not American-born.
I said that Keflezighi's win, the first by an American since 1982, wasn't as
big as it was being made out to be because there was a difference between
being an American-born product and being an American citizen. Frankly I
didn't account for the fact that virtually all of Keflezighi's running
experience came as a US citizen. I never said he didn't deserve to be called
American.
All I was saying was that we should celebrate an American marathon champion
who has completely been brought up through the American system.
This is where, I must admit, my critics made their best point. It turns out,
Keflezighi moved to the United States in time to develop at every level in
America. So Meb is in fact an American trained athlete and an American
citizen and he should be celebrated as the American winner of the NYC
Marathon. That makes a difference and makes him different from the "ringer"
I accused him of being. Meb didn't deserve that comparison and I apologize
for that.
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