Douglas Kalembo nearly runs the 400 in 49 at age 49 (or 39?)
Douglas Kalembo, the 1988 Olympian for Zambia we told about in May, blasted the 4 in 50.2 seconds yesterday at an Emory University meet in Atlanta. Late next month he turns 50, and the M50 world record is Fred Sowerby’s legendary 51.39 from 1999. Doug’s reported birthdate of July 24, 1960, means he’ll run in the M45 age group at Sacramento nationals. (He’s not yet listed on the Status of Entries page). In fact, the 400-meter final at Sacramento is July 23, which would make him the oldest in his age group. The Emory meet lists him as an M50, however. But a masters mole reports he ran with the M45 age group See results here. You can still vote in a poll on whether he’ll break Sowerby’s record. One slight wrinkle to check out, however: His old IAAF bio lists his DOB as July 24, 1970 — making him 39 today. Stay tuned.
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Douglas Kalembo
Full name: Douglas Kalembo
Gender: Male
Height: 5’10” (178 cm)
Weight: 123 lbs (56 kg)
Born: July 24, 1960
Country: Zambia
Sport: Athletics
His time breaks the m45 WR listed.
Tilastopaja has him listed as a 1960 birthdate.
The plot thickens.
Andy Carr, registrar/office roordinator of the Atlanta Track Club, says of Douglas’ entry at the meet: “His date of birth he gave us was 5/24/1960.”
So now we have three options:
May 24, 1960
July 24, 1960
July 24, 1970
Can anyone help me contact Douglas?
He is listed as an all-american for Blinn College in 1990 and 1991:
http://www.blinn.edu/Buccaneer/athletics/General%20Information/all%20americans.htm
1990 Douglas Kalembo Track and Field 2MileRelay^/800Meters Steve Silvey
1991 Douglas Kalembo Track and Field 2MileRelay/800Meters Steve Silvey
He then wen on to get all-american honors at Angelo State in 1992:
http://www.ustfccca.org/assets/awards/div2/allamericans/d2_allamOT_1992.pdf
He could have been a 30+ year old collegian, I am not sure what the eligibility rules were like at the time…
Other meets for Kalemba:
http://www.gbrathletics.com/ic/asrc.htm
1987 Douglas Kalemba 1:50.17A
Ran in the 1988 Olympics in the 400
Ran in the 1991 World Championships in the 800
You could go either way with the ages, but if he did have a 1960 DOB, it seems odd that there would be no results from him before 1987.
It would be tough for an athlete in any country to be very mediocre until age 27, then somehow improve to the point of making national and international teams, then go off to college at age 29.
It’s tough to improve from mediocrity at that age because you generally have to work a job and support yourself and don’t have time to train.
With a 1970 DOB, he would have been a promising young talent who went off to the US for college around age 19 and had a few successful years there. Sounds more plausible.
Something isn’t right. 1:50 at age 17 -not age 27, that never happens with the Africans. His PR in the 800 did not come at age 31.
This is even rare in the US. I would be very surprised if he was born in 1960
KEN might have to set up a vote poll on this one.
You can contact me and I can give you all the correct information on Douglas Kalembo. 1960 is correct year of birth for him and July 24 is his date of birth.
Regards,
Stephanie
sensational this result to almost 50 years, good. But I will undertake me, I hope soon, to have that condition to go down under 50.” Sacrament self there will be, and I hope for all the more’ strong athletes of the world.
A great regard,
Enrico
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