Bernard Kipchirchir Lagat (born December 12, 1974 in
Kapsabet, Kenya) is a middle and long distance
champion athlete who now represents the United
States.
Lagat, now a Kenyan American, was born in Kaptel
village, near Kapsabet town in Nandi District. His
date of birth coincides with Jamhuri Day, the
independence day of Kenya. He is a Nandi, sub-tribe
of the Kalenjin people. He graduated from the Kaptel
High School in 1994, where he had started his
athletics career.
He joined Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture
and Technology (JKUAT) in Nairobi 1996. Later in the
same year he moved to Washington State University.
In 2000, Lagat graduated from Washington State
University --as athletic greats Henry Rono and
Michael Kosgei from Kenya had done before him-- with
a degree in management information systems.
Lagat's older sister Mary Chepkemboi is also a
runner and African Champion from 1994.
Lagat was among several Kenyan athletes, along with
Richard Limo and Reuben Kosgei, who were heavily
criticized for not representing their country in the
2002 Commonwealth Games, which were held in
Manchester, England. Instead, the runners chose to
chase the prize money offered in the IAAF Golden
League.
Lagat pulled out of the 2003 World Championships in
Athletics in Paris, France, after being told he had
tested positive for erythropoietin, (EPO), on August
8 whilst competing in Germany. He was suspended from
competition, but this was later lifted when a B
sample tested negative. On hearing this good news he
issued a statement saying "I hope this outcome will
also remove any suggestion that I have ever taken
drugs."
In March, 2005, Lagat announced that he had become a
naturalized citizen of the United States since May
7, 2004, despite competing for Kenya in the 2004
Summer Olympics. Since Kenya does not allow dual
citizenship his silver medal in the 1500m is at
stake, depending on how Kenya interprets its own
laws (as of May, 2005, no additional news has arisen
on this issue). Due to this switch of nationality,
Lagat served a ban from international championship
events. For this reason he missed the IAAF World
Championships in Helsinki. A similar switch of
nationality, in this case Kenyan to Danish, caused
Wilson Kipketer to miss the 1996 Olympic Games.
