You Can Discuss Events Surrounding Sammy's Death Here

Confirmation?

I have read nothing in any sports website as of 9:15PM Eastern Time in the US.

Given recent controversies involving Sammy, and given the nature of life in Kenya, how will anyone actually KNOW what has happened?

What a shame.

Frequent Letsrun poster wrote:

Will they do an autopsy to confirm EPO use?

Right because one of EPO's side effects is making you fall off of balconies.

While watching him finish his Gold Medal run at Beijing, I kept asking myself: "He's finishing incredibly fast, what is he on?"

He was fantastic to watch, no matter what he did in his personal life.

Here's Runners Worlds two cents:

http://racingnews.runnersworld.com/2011/05/sammy-wanjiru-dead-at-age-24.html

The RW link:http://racingnews.runnersworld.com/2011/05/sammy-wanjiru-dead-at-age-24.html

Olympic Marathon champion Samuel Wanjiru of Kenya has died, apparently from a fall from a balcony at his home. The news was reported to Race Results Weekly in a telephone call by Shadrack Biwott, the former University of Oregon Duck who had spoken to his brother, marathoner Duncan Kibet, in Kenya.

"He jumped out of a balcony and they tried to revive him, but he didn't make it," said Biwott.

Did he think he could fly? Maybe he thought he was invicible and could do anything. Or maybe he was hurting terribly. It reminds me of John Denver's wife, Annie, saying that John was a dreamer, and dreamers have a hard life. RIP Sammy

aholian wrote:

http://www.universalsports.com/news-blogs/article/newsid=533569.html

Reads a bit like a suicide if the rumors are true.

I would assume it was probably alcohol related before intentional suicide.

Well there have been the rumors about his drinking, the AK-47 episode and the rocky relations with his wife.

Sad end to his incredible, but short, life.

Ughh rough wrote:

aholian wrote:http://www.universalsports.com/news-blogs/article/newsid=533569.html

Reads a bit like a suicide if the rumors are true.

I would assume it was probably alcohol related before intentional suicide.

That's exactly what I was thinking.

There was a poster on here, Native Son if I recall, that seemed to have inside info. He talked of all the turmoil that Wanjiru was empbroilled in. Too bad it caught up to him.

damn....a troubled soul to be sure with his marital problems last year and arrest. you have to wonder if fame and fortune had a negative effect on his life. (more money, more problems...for some people). A talent that could have threatened the 203 marathon.

News has spread fast all throughout Iten. Many runners this morning have gathered to mourn the loss of the great Sammy Wanjiru. RIP Sammy Wanjiru.

Run For Him Today

That thread has been bumped...chilling reading, particularly now.

Wejo - it's when things like this happen that LetsRun really needs mandatory registration. You wouldn't have to delete disgraceful posts if users were made accountable for their posts. Consider it.

Was it possibly a homicide?

Sometimes people fall out of balconies. A prominent politician in my state fell out of a window when he was in college and broke his back (he got better); it was just a freak accident.

This thing with Wanjiru could have just been a tragic accident.

aholian wrote:

Reads a bit like a suicide if the rumors are true.

I think it is too early to draw any conclusions and that is another reason I wanted this thread apart from the one paying respects to Sammy.

You are going off of one sentence of a quote from a 2nd hand source 5000 miles away in America who told me specifically he did not want a cause of death discussed (much less quoted). Thus, I won't use the Race Results Weekly quote even though we can republish their material.

We now have an article up that mainly pays tribute to Sammy's marathons.

One of the main lessons I take from Wanjiru's passing, and recent troubles, is actually the same lesson I learned from OJ Simpson, Britney Spears, Kurt Cobain, Michael Jackson, and many others ....

You might think things would be so much better if you had someone else's life, but you're probably wrong. So enjoy the life you do have. Who knows, you might actually have a *better* life than an Olympic gold medalist (or NFL star, or famous musician, etc etc).

That's what I take away from this, for what it's worth.

more here:

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2011/05/15/sports/sports-us-athletics-kenya-wanjiru.html?hp