# @thelapcount on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/Ctwvk0srgpa
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/8588740-thelapcount-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/9b4d6e39f7.jpg
- **Posted:** 2023-06-21T17:57:28.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** The Lap Count (@thelapcount) — https://gondola.cc/thelapcount

## Caption

𝐀𝐧 𝐎𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐎𝐟 𝐘𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐍𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐞’𝐬 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝*

“In 2004, Lagat ran 3:27.40 a few weeks before he represented Kenya at the Athens Olympics. Then in 2005, he announced that he had become a US citizen a few months before running that 3:27 and that he was switching his international allegiance, thus forcing him to sit out of that summer’s World Championships.

But in 2018 things got weird. Despite 14 years having passed since the performance, Lagat’s 3:27.40 was ratified as the American record. And you can blame Mondo Duplantis for the confusion – seriously.

You see, the greatest pole vaulter ever was born in Louisiana, but chose to represent his mother’s native Sweden. Before a relevant height had even been cleared, former American record-holder Jeff Hartwig had sounded the alarm, pointing out that according to USATF bylaws, any American citizen is capable of setting a national record, even if competing for a different country. And as Hartwig prophesized, that exact thing happened when Mondo cleared 6.05m at the European championships to set the American record, while wearing his Swedish uniform.

This series of events led to some closer inspection of the 1500m record, and Bernard Lagat became the American record holder, again – just faster.

The issue is that USATF does not automatically know the citizenship status of every single person in the world. It’s not like after Faith Kipyegon broke the 1500m and 5000m records, Max Siegel called her up just to confirm that she is not a US citizen.”

Lap 120: Let’s talk about the 1500⏱️
Sponsored by: @newbalancerunning 
Read: TheLapCount.com 🏃👩‍💻
📸: @alexandtrack

## Stats

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- **Likes:** 971
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## Credits

| Name | Username | Profile | Role |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| CITIUS MAG | @citiusmag | https://gondola.cc/citiusmag | Sports Media Outlet |
| Alex Andrei | @AlexAndTrack | https://gondola.cc/AlexAndTrack | Photographer |

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