It is sad and shocking news to find out that Sammy Wanjiru has passed away.
Others have mentioned his amazing Olympic 2008 marathon and his gutsy Chicago 2010 marathon, as well as that 26:41 WJR for 10,000 meters (can you imagine having a freshman on your college team run a time like that?!!) I would have to also include his London 2009 win among the gutsy marathons he ran: to go out in a crazy 1:01:36 and still hang on (while slowly dying) to break the London Marathon course record in 2:05:10 also speaks much of his fortitude. The guy was fearless.
For me, Sammy Wanjiru REALLY got my attention a few weeks after his WJR for 10,000 in 2005 when he broke Paul Tergat's 1/2 marathon WR by one second at Rotterdam with his 59:16. "59:16 - by an 18 year old???!!!" I thought. "A guy who could be a college freshman ran the fastest half-marathon in history?!" When he followed that up with a 58:53 and then a 58:33 in 2007, I was wowed. "22 seconds faster than Gebrselassie's WR...at only 20 years of age!!"
Like Daniel Komen, Sammy Wanjiru had an amazing talent that produced eye-popping results in a career that turned out to be all too brief. Like Prefontaine, Sammy leaves the running world with many questions of "What if..."
Very, very sad news indeed for all of us in the running community...and for his wife and two young children.
R.I.P. Sammy Wanjiru