Tragic News: Sammy Wanjiru Is Dead

wow.. that truly is sad.

Oh my god. RIP.

His last race in Chicago was one of the gutsiest races I have ever seen, he was such a badass that day. Very sad to hear he has passed.

Unbelievable. Very tough news.

holy cow - what words?

His fight in Chicago last year has motivated me in every last mile I run -

he was one of the greats. One of the toughest guys of all time.

RIP Sammy!

What a terrible, tragic loss.

Not yet a single news result coming up through google news. (searched for mentions within last week and got nothing).

Terribly sad. The Olympic marathon was one of the greatest ever.

Holy crap...

Rest in peace.

Wow, I am shocked by this, checked the date to make sure this wasn't April 1. It looks confirmed on Twitter now

Til the World Ends wrote:

Wow, I am shocked by this, checked the date to make sure this wasn't April 1. It looks confirmed on Twitter now

Yes,, David monti has confirmed it

Best I could find:

http://twitter.com/#

!/d9monti

Olympic marathon champion Sammy Wanjiru has died. Got an call from an athlete, then his manager Federico Rosa confirmed it. No firm details.

Terribly sad. The Olympic marathon was one of the greatest ever.

A. E. Housman.

To An Athlete Dying Young

THE time you won your town the race

We chaired you through the market-place;

Man and boy stood cheering by,

And home we brought you shoulder-high.

To-day, the road all runners come,

Shoulder-high we bring you home,

And set you at your threshold down,

Townsman of a stiller town.

Smart lad, to slip betimes away

From fields where glory does not stay,

And early though the laurel grows

It withers quicker than the rose.

Eyes the shady night has shut

Cannot see the record cut,

And silence sounds no worse than cheers

After earth has stopped the ears:

Now you will not swell the rout

Of lads that wore their honours out,

Runners whom renown outran

And the name died before the man.

So set, before its echoes fade,

The fleet foot on the sill of shade,

And hold to the low lintel up

The still-defended challenge-cup.

And round that early-laurelled head

Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead,

And find unwithered on its curls

The garland briefer than a girl's.

Wow, I'm in complete shock just like everyone else reading this news. My greatest memory of Sammy is when he pushed the pace in the Olympic Marathon and dropped everyone. As an American, of course I was rooting for Ryan Hall and the lot, but watching Sammy push through the terrible Beijing conditions to an Olympic record, you couldn't say he didn't deserve it more.

RIP Sammy. Thanks for inspiring a new generation.

RIP Sammy Wanjiru.

The Olympic marathon was one of the most incredible races I've ever seen, and I've been a huge fan ever since.

He burned too bright, and for too short of a time.

It is truly shocking that Sammy Wanjiru has passed.