Samuel Wanjiru

Samuel Kamau Wanjiru

Wanjiru entering the stadium in his marathon victory at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Personal information
Nationality	Kenyan
Born	(1986-11-10)10 November 1986 Nyahururu, Kenya
Died	15 May 2011(2011-05-15) (aged 24) Nyahururu, Kenya
Height	1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
Weight	52 kg (115 lb)
Sport
Sport	Running
Event(s)	Half marathon, marathon
Achievements and titles
Personal bests	5000 m: 13:12.40 (Hiroshima 2005) 10,000 m: 26:41.75 (Brussels 2005) Half marathon: 58:33 (The Hague 2007) Marathon: 2:05:10 (London 2009)
Medal record Men's athletics Representing Kenya Olympic Games 2008 Beijing Marathon World Marathon Majors 2010 Chicago Marathon 2009 Chicago Marathon 2009 London Marathon 2008 London Marathon 2007 Fukuoka Marathon

Samuel Kamau Wanjiru (10 November 1986 – 15 May 2011) was a Kenyan long-distance runner who won the 2008 Beijing Olympics Marathon in an Olympic record time of 2:06:32; becoming the first Kenyan to win the Olympic gold in the marathon. He became the youngest gold medallist in the marathon since 1932.

He set the current (as of 2020) 10,000m World Junior Record in 2005 and set the half marathon world record 3 times.^[1] In 2009, he won both the London Marathon and Chicago Marathon, running the fastest marathons ever recorded in the United Kingdom and United States, respectively. He retained his Chicago title in 2010 in a season fraught with injury.

In 2011, he died after a fall from a balcony at his home in Nyahururu following a domestic dispute.