>Ritz also missed the American junior record for 5000m by two days. Had he >been born Jan 1, 1983 instead of Dec. 30, 1982 he would have smashed the >AJR >of 13:38.39 by Franklyn Sanchez last year.
Why this nonesense with junior status where the cutoff of a couple of days prevents competing as a junior for an entire year? Why not have a systme in which an athlete could compete as a junior and set records as a junior up until his or her 20th birthday, at which point the status would end? Uder this new system, the fact that Ritz was born two days earlier would make him ineligible for junior status TWO DAYS EARLIER, he would not lose the entire year. Especially for record purposes, someone born just after the new year (an arbitrary date) could set junior records up until he or she was almost 20, while someone like Ritz must stop just after their 19th birthday.
