Bernard Lagat won the bronze medal in the 1,500 meters at the 2000 Summer Olympics and the silver in 2004. He's going for the gold in 2008, but he's a rare athlete who has switched countries: In the past he ran for his native Kenya, but he became a U.S. citizen in 2004 and now runs under the American flag.
That makes him a controversial figure in his homeland -- some in Kenya want him stripped of his silver because he had already become an American before the Olympics -- but it could make him one of America's Olympic heroes this summer.
Jere Longman of the New York Times profiles Lagat today, and Lagat explains that becoming an American was mostly about his life after his running career ends:
"I love Kenya," Lagat said. Yet, he said: "How many thousands of Kenyans get out of school and there are no jobs? Or one job for 50 people? I wanted to be able to support my family here."Hard to argue with that. The 1,500 meters has been an unkind event to American runners: No American had won it in any major competition for nearly a century until Lagat won the world title last year. Now America may have the favorite to bring home the gold.
