What Does It Take To Be American? Why Meb Keflezighi May Rekindle That Debate

After Keflezighi won the New York Marathon in 2009, his Americanism was called into question. In London, he hopes to triumph - and quell all that talk

By SEAN GREGORY | @seanmgregory | July 6, 2012

In 2009 when Meb Keflezighi became the first American to win the New York City marathon in 27 years, some Americans downplayed the achievement.  Keflezighi, who also won an Olympic silver medal in the 2004 Athens marathon and will race for the U.S. again in London, was born in Eritrea and moved to the U.S. when he was 12. Thus Keflezighi, the thinking went, was not a “real” American.

A CNBC.com commentary, entitled “Marathon’s Headline Win Is Empty,” said that “the fact that [Keflezighi] is not American-born takes away from the magnitude of the achievement … Nothing against Keflezighi, but he’s like a ringer you hire to work a couple hours at your office so that you can win the executive softball league.” A comment on The New York Times’ website said: “Keflezighi is really another elite African runner by birth, upbringing, and training. Americans are kidding themselves if they say he represents a resurgence of American distance prowess! On the other hand, he is an excellent representative of how we import everything we need!” The Times ran a story spotlighting the debate, and comments on Letsrun.com, a running site, included: “Give us all a break. It’s just another African marathon winner” and “Meb is not an American – case closed.”