Olympic onThesource.com marathon champion Wanjiru dies in fall

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(Free-Press-Release.com) May 16, 2011 -- Kenyan Olympic marathon champion Sammy Wanjiru died after a fall from a second-floor

balcony during a domestic dispute involving his wife and another woman, officials said

Monday.

One police official said the 24-year-old Wanjiru committed suicide, while another said he

jumped to stop his wife from leaving the house after she discovered him with another

woman. His agent, Federico Rosa, does not believe it was suicide.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Wanjiru became the first Kenyan to win a gold medal in the

marathon. At 21, he had the promise to dominate the distance for another decade.

"It is a huge tragedy," Jos Hermens, a long distance expert and manager of Ethiopian great

Haile Gebrselassie, told The Associated Press. "He could have won two, three more Olympic

Games. He was an incredible talent."

Wanjiru, who won five of his seven marathons and was the youngest runner to win four

"major" marathons, died late Sunday at his home in the town of Nyahururu, in the Rift

Valley, the cradle of Kenyan long-distance running.

"The fact of the matter is that Wanjiru committed suicide," national police spokesman Eric

Kiraithe said.

Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere also said initial reports indicated Wanjiru killed

himself, but a local official offered a different account.

"Wanjiru came home with another woman friend at around 11:30 p.m. and then when his wife

came home and found them she inquired who the lady was," area police chief Jasper Ombati

said. "They got into an argument. His wife locked them in the bedroom and ran off.

"He then jumped from the bedroom balcony. He is not here to tell us what he thinking when

he jumped. We do not suspect foul play. In our estimation we think he wanted to stop his

wife from leaving the compound."

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