On Meb Keflezighi And America

On Sunday night, I wrote a commentary about NYC marathon winner Meb Keflezighi. Keflezighi, who is a naturalized U.S. citizen, was born in the African country of Eritrea. The post was intended to be a humorous take on America’s inability to groom homegrown runners into winners of major marathons and that in order to boast victory in major races, America must rely on athletes born elsewhere. As I re-read the commentary, coupled with comments from readers on this site and others, I think it’s pretty clear that I did not do a good job of writing that nor in researching my topic. As many have pointed out, had I done a bit more research I probably would have realized that almost everything Keflezighi has done in his running career has been in the U.S., where he has lived since he was 12.

↵I apologize to Keflezighi for slighting his achievement, which is a spectacular one regardless of his nationality, and to anyone who was offended by the post. Regardless of where he came from and how he got to where he is today, Keflezighi’s triumph isn’t just a great American story, it’s a great human story. Hopefully that’s not lost on everyone.