Kenyan Marathon Champion Dies

[SOCCERROO FOX]

MYSTERY surrounds the sudden death of Beijing Olympic marathon champion Sammy Wanjiru, with his agent disputing a police claim that he killed himself by jumping from a balcony at his home.

Tributes for the 24-year-old were also tethered to reports of trysts, threats and a turbulent private life.

The Olympic marathon record holder was a huge star in Kenya, but died late on Sunday after falling from the first-floor balcony of his home.

His death caused a seismic shock in a country where he is a hero and prompted the claim that he had committed suicide after a love triangle erupted into acrimony.

Jaspher Ombati, the regional police commander in the area of Kenya where Wanjiru lived, said that just before Wanjiru's fatal fall, his wife, Triza Njeri, returned home to find him in bed with another woman.

"It is not yet clear whether it was a suicide or if he jumped out of rage, or what caused him to fall to the ground," Ombati said.

He said Njeri locked Wanjiru and the other woman in a bedroom and rushed outside.

"He then jumped from the bedroom balcony," Ombati said.

"We do not suspect foul play. In our estimation we think he wanted to stop his wife from leaving the compound."

Confusion reigned in the aftermath.

National police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said Wanjiru committed suicide, while his agent, Federico Rosa, said that he was "100 per cent" sure Wanjiru did not take his own life.

Rosa added there was "no depression" despite a forthcoming court case for illegally possessing a firearm. All that seemed clear was that the public persona of an affable, smiling figure masked the whole truth.

Wanjiru's domestic life was first splashed across the Kenyan press last year when it was claimed he had broken the windows of his house with an AK47 rifle, threatened to kill his wife and a maid, and assaulted a security guard.

Njeri initially demanded a divorce but later said the pair had made up.

Yesterday, another woman, Judy Wambui, came forward and said that she had been living as Wanjiru's wife and their child was due in September.

Another Kenyan running star, Paul Tergat, a former marathon world record-holder, called on athletics officials to provide counselling to teach athletes to handle their lives.

Wanjiru broke the world half-marathon record at 18 and became the youngest post-war winner of the Olympic marathon title, and the first Kenyan, in 2008

[Itsthejoeker]

Truly great runner! An absolute legend in the world of athletics, he will be sorely missed

Rest in Peace!