Long Live Meb Keflezighi

It was celebration time for Americans more than 25 years. The credit of bringing tears of joy and smile on the faces of millions of Marathon fans all across the United States goes to Meb Keflezighi. He is the true hero, who brought pride to the US by winning the New York City Marathon.

Keflezighi had won silver medal at Olympic in the year 2004. But, this Sunday, he won his first ever Gold medal. The distance of 26.2 miles was covered in 2 hours, 9 minutes, 15 seconds.

34 year old Keflezighi was born in Eritrea. He spend his childhood days in a small village, in a hut, with no basic amenities such as electricity. Those were the days when the soldiers used to hunt for male child over 12 years, to take him to the war front. Meb’s family shifted to Italy when Meb was about 10 years old. They moved to the United States after spending 2 years in Italy. Keflezighi made his presence felt by participating in running events in junior high school in San Diego. He made his mark at UCLA.

In1998, he got the US citizenship and contacted Alberto Salazar, the winner of 1982 Marathon, stating that the athletes were in need for more funds so as to attain full time training.

In 2007, Meb was just recovering from hip injury, and it was feared that the injury might spell a doom in Meb’s career. However, strong will and perseverance led Meb to where he is standing today, sporting a USA jersey, and winning over millions of fans, instantly.

Meb was overwhelmed with joy and was seen wiping his tears, both for his victory, and for his friend Ryan Shay, who had breathed his last, about 2 years back at the U.S. Olympic trials, held in New York.