Olympic marathon champion Wanjiru dies

May 16, 2011, 10:53 GMT

Nairobi - Olympic marathon champion Samuel Wanjiru of Kenya has died after jumping from a balcony at his home following a late-night domestic dispute, police said on Monday.

The death was under investigation, with some reports saying that he took his life and others speaking of an accident.

Wanjiru, 24, died of internal injuries sustained when he hit the concrete ground in a six-metres fall at his Rift Valley home in Nyahururu, 150 kilometres north-west of Nairobi.

Wanjiru's agent, Federico Rosa, told the BBC he spoke to him on the weekend and was '100 per cent sure' the runner did not commit suicide.

'He asked to borrow my car and he was supposed to be back early this morning with my car, so for sure there was nothing to do with suicide. It was just a terrible accident that happened,' Rosa said.

Citing police, media reports said that Wanjiru had an argument with his wife before the fall. He reportedly had a female friend at home when his wife showed up unexpectedly.

The two women were reportedly being questioned by police.

Wanjiru was last year charged with assault and illegal possession of an assault rifle after allegedly threatening to kill his wife. His wife later withdrew the accusations, but Wanjiru was due to appear in court later this month over the firearm charge.

Wanjiru became the first Olympic marathon champion from Kenya and at age 21 the youngest winner of the 42.195-kilometres race since 1932 when he captured gold at the 2008 Games in Beijing.

His personal best time of 2 hours 5 minutes 10 seconds came the following year at the London Marathon. He won the 2009 and 2010 Chicago Marathons and topped the lucrative 2008-09 and 2009-10 World Marathon Majors rankings.

Wanjiru's death was met with shock in Kenya and the sports community.

'Wanjiru's death is not only a loss to his family and friends but to Kenya as a whole and the entire world athletics fraternity,' Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga said in a statement.

'As an athletics nation, we looked forward to a sterling performance in the Olympic Games in London next year. Mr Wanjiru was one of our sure bets for gold in the upcoming contest. His death is therefore a big blow to our dreams.'

Marathon world record holder Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia expressed his feelings via Twitter.

'I am totally shocked of the news of the death of Sammy Wanjiru. My thoughts are with his family and all his friends and colleagues. Of course one wonders if we as an athletics family could have avoided this tragedy,' tweeted Gebrselassie.

The ruling athletics body IAAF said on its website it was 'saddened' by Wanjiru's death and named him 'one of the most talented long distance runners of his generation.'

London Marathon race director David Bedford even went one step further, quoted by the Daily Telegraph as saying that 'Samuel was, in my opinion, the greatest marathon runner that we have ever seen in the world.

'Like the rest of the world of athletics, and in particular marathon running, I am absolutely shocked to the core,' Bedford said.

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