Olympic marathon champion Samuel Wanjiru died early Monday after his wife, Tereza Njeri, discovered him in bed with another woman and locked him inside a bedroom. A senior police official in Nyahururu, Kenya said Wanjiru, 24, jumped to his death from a balcony on his home.
"In a rage, Samuel Kamau Wanjiru jumped from the first floor of the house and he was badly injured. When he was rushed to the hospital the doctors tried to resuscitate him but unfortunately he passed on," said Jasper Ompati.
Wanjiru’s death comes 5 months after a marital dispute landed him in jail. He was arrested in December 2010 after allegedly threatening to kill Njeri with an AK47 rifle. Although Njeri dropped the charges, Wanjiru still faced charges of illegal possession of a weapon.
Ompati told reporters Wanjiru’s death is being investigated. Meanwhile, hundreds of Kenyans began gathering at the Nyahururu funeral home to pay their final respects to the athlete, who became a national hero after winning the gold medal for men’s marathon running at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
"Wanjiru's death is not only a loss to his family and friends but to Kenya as a whole and the entire world athletics fraternity," said Prime Minister Raila Odinga. "As an athletics nation, we looked forward to a sterling performance in the Olympic Games in London next year. Mr Wanjiru was one of our sure bets for gold in the upcoming contest. His death is therefore a big blow to our dreams.”
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