Douglas Kalembo WR 400 rejected by USATF: Age claim in dispute
Letter from Zambia
Old Georgia driver's license showed Kalembo as being born in 1970.
Here is how the British researcher responded to Kalembo himself:
In June this year we made an effort to check details for athletes at the 1988 Olympics and added some missing dates and places of birth as well as correcting some errors. During the search we looked at coverage of your performances on the track in the US and checked all publicly available US records looking for any details missing from our profile of you.
We found two sources of information.
The first is this, an entry from the Texas Marriage Index from the year 1990 available at www.ancestry.com
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Texas Marriage Collection, 1814-1909 and 1966-2002 about Douglas Kalembo
Name:
Douglas Kalembo
Gender:
Male
Marriage Date:
3 May 1990
Estimated birth year:
abt 1971
Age:
19
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Spouse:
Kimberly E Thompson
Spouse gender:
Female
Spouse Est Birth Year:
abt 1966
Spouse Age:
24
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Marriage County:
Washington
Marriage State:
TexasSource: Texas Marriage Index, 1966-2002
It is also available at www.genlookups.com/texas_marriages/  Unfortunately since I am in the UK I can’t have access to a paper copy. This is only available to people within the USA.
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Secondly there is this – also available from www.ancestry.com and from other sources.U.S. Public Records Index, Volume 2 about Douglas Kalembo
Name:
Douglas Kalembo
Birth Date:
24 Jul 1970
Address:
6158 Pomerania Trl
City:
Stone Mountain
State:
GA
Zip Code:
30087-6517This date of birth is also present at this site.
We haven’t found any available documents that show a birth date of 1960 — although in support of a birth date of 1960 you have provided Mr. Stone with driving licence and passport details.
The real question is this: what is the reason that the birth date of 1970 appears in the records above?
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Also: After your sub 50-second 400 m we received an e-mail at our website asking some questions that we were unable to answer.The submitter asked:
1 – Do you have any records of performances at Zambian Championships at junior or senior level or any recorded times for Douglas Kalembo for the years 1976-86?
2 – According to newspaper records Douglas Kalembo studied at Blinn College and Angelo State University from around 1988. Did he arrive on a track scholarship?
A college would more likely offer a place to an 18 year old than a 28 year old, surely?
USATF officials have not made a public explanation about the M50 record rejection, but I suspect it’s for lack of a birth certificate.
Kalembo wrote me in late September:
Here is my story about my age. When I came to America my passport was showing 07/24/1970 which was wrong
I tried to change the date, but it took me long time to correct it. Here are my documents to support it. If (the British researcher) is good at finding information can he/she do me a favor and contact the Social Security
office in GEORGIA DECATUR OFFICE….Ken I am sending you the following documents I used to correct my date of birth.
1 old passport
2 old drives license
3 letter to passport office
4 you have new passport and drive license copies
sent to you some time back.Ken, I had to work hard to correct my date of birth for medical reasons. I was having problems having proper diagnostic tests done due to the wrong date of birth.
Again 1988 Olympic record shows 07/24/1960, I Came to U.S.A in 1990.
It does not take a genius to figure this out. Why would I want to be old? It just took me a long time to put my documents together. Ken, that letter is the only legal document I have in regards to my birth certificate. I was born before our independence in 1964. There were no birth certificates for blacks in that time. You can verify with the social security about my date of birth.
So here’s the rub: Kalembo admits that his original U.S. passport and Georgia driver’s license showed him with a 1970 date of birth. But he succeeded in persuading the passport office and Georgia licensing authorities to issue him new documents saying he was born in 1960.
Now USA Track & Field has decided it won’t accept the verdict of the federal and state governments in his case.
Aside from the possibility that Kalembo is confessing to fraud — submitting incorrect information on his original documents — USATF has put itself in the position of being a higher authority than the United States of America.
If Kalembo wanted to push the issue, he could sue USATF. And when USATF is sued, it usually caves.
I’m seeking Kalembo’s reaction to his record rejection.
Bottom line: Fred Sowerby’s 51.39 at age 50 remains the listed world and American record for 400 meters.
Old Kalembo passport showed his DOB as July 24, 1970.
20 Responses
In many parts of the world there are no accurate birth records. One may obtain a passport in some countries. with a sworn statement from a parent, a member of the clergy, or even a page from the family bible where a family recorded a child’s birth.
There are even stories about people using the documents of a sibling to obtain a passport. I am not suggesting that there is conscious cheating so that one could – potentially – set a world age group record – just that Mr. Kalembo’s situation is not unique.
I suspect Mr.Kalembo would have a hard time in court proving his “real” age. In the absence of an official birth certificate – it is essentially one person’s claim against various documents that tend to undermine the claim.
Can’t they cut his leg off and count the rings?
That is strange. Wouldn’t a guy want to be younger rather than older…unless you are a college freshman trying to buy booze?
I find it Doug hasn’t commented. If I were of age; I’d be raising a fuss. If I were illegal; I’d remain quiet.
Daddy:I believe you questioned my military SERVICE SOME MONTHS BACK
As noted previously on this website, Mr. Kalembo’s IAAF bio says that he is 40. There is also information on the internet that lists him as being the youngest person (18 years & 63 days) on the 1988 Zambian Olympic team. This would also indicate that he is 40. Finally, just as a comparison, James Lofton’s best collegiate 400M was 46.54, and at age 40 he consistently ran 49’s.
http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/biographies/letter=k/athcode=7932/index.html
http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/countries/ZAM/summer/1988/ATH/
http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/stan/sports/c-track/auto_pdf/Men-All-Time-Outdoor-10.pdf
Just to add to my last post, the link below shows that Mr. Kalembo had a 400M PR of 46.89 in 1988 and he ran 47.44 in heat 3 of round 1 at the Olympic Games in Seoul.
http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ka/douglas-kalembo-1.html
Yeah I didn’t buy that he was 50. As I commented when we discussed this before, there’s no way he was just hanging out in Zambia for 10 years between age 18-27 and staying under the radar, then suddenly bursting on to the scene.
umm, I guess no 50 under 50 yet! no 50 under 51 yet ! South Mountain was a little lonely this am.
Mr. Berry I did see a scare up a few jackrabbits this morning – Wish I had their acceleration! Mr. Berry I see you ran some great indoor times a few years ago – any chance of you going to New Mexico for the indoor nationals – maybe stride a 23.5 in a 4 x 200….Keeping it light – Sully
Mr. Sullivan I it’s tempting but indoors for me is out. No indoor tracks for me to work on my curve. I will cheer you guys on. Watch out for the jackrabbits. I saw a few this weekend. Stay healthy my friend.
Kettrell
there are many more masters I think need age checked,I no most of the hurdlers and jumpers from the 70,s HS AND COL,WHERE did some of these people come from,NEHIMYIA I know foster I know,BETHEL,I know,pearson ,I know,blackshear,kingdom,DEE,S HOOOO,ARE YOU.
Kettrell,
Just had my 8th grade students draw up the schematic for a 200 meter track. We are going to try to line it in the middle of the football field. Better do it before the grounds keeper gets wind of it! I almost fell off the track last year in Boston…I hear tell prepatation is the key to success. Thought I heard a rattler this morning also! Keep up the hard work and see you in the Spring…Sully
I would like to suggest that we wait for all the facts before we criticize Mr. Kalembo. Let’s hope the true facts come out soon.
50 is the new 40,makes me feel bad when I out run collegites in D-3 MEETS IM TRYING TO PASS 4 20 SOMTHING is not right hope this is fixed we are old men at heart why do masters runners have so much drama these days,take the record away he still would do well as a M 40 RUNNER most of them are only running 52 53 54 in the 400 m.we will see what usatf does about this one.yes we should find the facts befor we critize hem
I’m NOT insinuating anything and agree that it’s best to wait for the facts.
However, it’s a funny coincidence that Cam Newton played at Blinn College before enrolling at Auburn.
Me da risa=Thats funny(lol)
Thank Goodness this is settled.
Gary
Wouldn’t a guy want to be younger rather than older…unless you are a college freshman trying to buy booze?
Not saying this is why Kalembo wanted to appear older.
But there are reasons; including being a bit older would help one gain work at least at first.
I suppose you could retire earlier too, collect SS.
Oh ya, and you can set age group records.
he’s not the only world rated masters athlete running under age I know of 1 athlete that has beaten me at World Masters Games that was cheating.I suspect there are many masters athletes lying about there age maybe this is an area that the masters athletics should look into more closely
Jason if you know this can you just tell what event he was in,thanks you for being true too the sport
Lofton in college ran 4 by 440 splits in the mid to high 44’s, by the way. Maybe his open was 46 plus but he may have only run it a couple times. I saw him and Dede Cooper from San Jose State both run against each other in the 44’s on the anchor of a mile relay in 1978.
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