Olympic marathon champion Wanjiru dies in fall  |
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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."
Ombati said the balcony is between 13 and 19 feet high. He said the runner landed on a hard surface.
Rosa confirmed there had been a domestic dispute over another woman, but said Wanjiru would not have killed himself.
"I talked to him yesterday and the day before," he said, noting his training was proceeding smoothly. "It was going well and smoothly and he had no problem at all.
"This I can guarantee, it was not a suicide at all," Rosa said.
In addition to the Olympics, Wanjiru won the London Marathon in 2009 and in Chicago in 2009 and 2010, in the process running the fastest ever time recorded in a marathon in the United States.
Gebrselassie, a two-time Olympic 10,000-meter champion and world-record holder in the marathon, said on his Twitter feed that he was "totally shocked" by the news.
"My thoughts are with his family and all his friends and colleagues," Gebrselassie said.
"Of course one wonders if we as an athletics family could have avoided this tragedy," he said.
Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga said Wanjiru was "steadily developing into our country's running phenomenon."
He offered condolences to family, friends, Kenya and the entire world athletics community, calling the death "a big blow to our dreams."
Olympic 5,000 and 10,000-meter champion Kenenisa Bekele said he looked up to Wanjiru as a great athlete.
"I was looking forward to meet him in the future at the marathon distance and to race against him," the Ethiopian said.
The major marathons also offered condolences.
"We'll miss his confidence, bravado, guts and heart," New York Road Runners president and CEO Mary Wittenberg said. "The sport is down a game changing megastar today. How very sad for all."
London Marathon race director David Bedford said Wanjiru "was in my opinion the best marathon runner ever." (AP)
'마라톤 영웅' 완지루, 발코니서 추락사…자살? 사고사? 의혹
2008년 베이징올림픽 마라톤 금메달리스트인 새뮤얼 완지루(25,케냐)가 사망, 자살인지 사고사인지 의혹을 사고 있다.
주요 외국 언론에 의하면 케냐 니야후루루에 사는 완지루는 16일(한국시각) 자신의 집 발코니에서 추락, 사망한 채로 발견됐다.
현지 경찰에 따르면 완지루는 애인과 함께 침대에서 술을 마시다 아내 은제리에게 발각됐으며 이를 본 부인과 다툰 후 아내가 둘을 방에 가두고 집을 나갔다 직후 완지루가 발코니 아래로 떨어져 사망했다고 한다.
사망원인은 내출혈로 진단됐으며 경찰은 완지루가 자살한 것인지, 실족사한 것인지, 아니면 타살인지를 놓고 수사하고 있다.
완지루는 베이징올림픽서 2시간6분32초를 기록해 조국 케냐에 처음으로 금메달을 안긴 선수다. 금메달을 획득한 완지루는 국민 영웅으로 추앙받았다.
이후에도 완지루는 시카고 마라톤서 우승을 차지하는 등 건재함을 과시했지만 사생활에서는 총기 아내협박, 교통사고를 일으키는 등 문제가 많았던 것으로 알려졌다.
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