Olympic Marathon Champion, Sammy Wanjiru, 24, Dies From Fall
Mystery surrounds the death of the late Olympic marathon champion Sammy Wanjiru. He died late Sunday, May 14th, 2011, at his home in the town of Nyahururu in the Rift Valley, Kenya.
Reportedly a domestic dispute broke out when his wife, Triza Njera, came home to find him with another woman. She locked Wanjiru and the woman in the bedroom and left the house. Wanjiru then jumped from the second story balcony.
Conflicting accounts at what his intentions were in jumping are circulating the globe. Did he jump to commit suicide? Or was he merely going after his wife to explain, to stop her from leaving the compound? Still another account surmises that he was pushed.
If we look at Wanjiru’s history, it is not the first domestic dispute to arise. Last December, he was charged with wounding his security guard with a rifle and threatening to kill his wife and maid. He denied all charges and was released on bail. In February, the couple appeared on television to announce that they were working on their differences and that Njeri had dropped all charges.
Wanjiru had reportedly been attacked more than once at his home and threatened with kidnapping and had the rifle for personal safety. It seems that attempts had been made to extort money from his success. No doubt this is where the fabricated tale of a possible push from the balcony and murder comes into play.
Jos Hermens, a long distance expert and manager of Ethiopian marathoner Haile Gebrselassie, said that Wanjiru saw too much success early in his life and career. The money and luxury came too fast and he didn’t know how to handle the success.
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