Grass has overgrown the unattended grave of Samuel Wanjiru on the remote Ol-Ojorok plateau in central Kenya, a symbol of how quickly a country can forget its heroes.
“He was a great guy,” said Eliud Kipchoge, a two-time London marathon champion who began running at the same time as Wanjiru. Kipchoge hopes to win the Olympic marathon in Rio de Janeiro to revive memories of his friend.
“It is sad that he lies in his grave completely forgotten. He brought a lot of honour to Kenya,” Kipchoge said.
“It is still fresh in my mind when he entered the Beijing Olympic Stadium, seeing him win the marathon gold medal. It was a great moment.”
Wanjiru died on May 15, 2011 aged just 24. He had had a few drinks when he fell, or maybe was pushed, from a balcony at his house in Nyahururu.
He is the subject of at least two books, but the cause of his death has never been fully established. The case set off a tabloid furore. His mother was convinced he was murdered.
Born to a single mother, Hannah, Wanjiru was raised by a grandfather at Ol-Ojorok where he grew up herding cattle and goats.
He excelled in school sports and caught the eye of veteran athletics coach Robert Kioni, who took Wanjiru to Nyahururu to train.
Kioni said Wanjiru was “dedicated”. “He was there to inspire the other younger athletes.”
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Kioni convinced Shunichi Kobayashi, a Kenyan-based Japanese athletics promoter, to take Wanjiru to Japan to study. At the age of 14, he joined a growing number of young Kenyans heading East instead of taking track scholarships in the United States.
Stephen Mayaka, one of the first Kenyan athletes to train in Japan, helped Wanjiru through the early years in Sendai.
“Wanjiru took some time to integrate into the Japan ‘jitsugyodan’ system. He wasn’t a strong athlete. It took him two to three years of hard training to become the runner he would be.”
Wanjiru’s determination was phenomenal, however, and impressed many who came into contact with him.
In three years, he bettered the 10,000 metres junior world record, broke the world half marathon record and won Kenya’s first Olympic marathon gold.
“Wanjiru was special,” said veteran sports journalist and personal friend Peter Njenga. “He could be an outgoing guy but when it came to training he very serious. He accepted to forgo the 2007 world championships in Osaka and give his place to another athlete so that he could prepare for the Beijing Olympics the following year.”
At the age of 18, in his first international track race, Wanjiru came third in Brussels behind Ethiopian 10,000m world record holder, Kenenisa Bekele and Uganda’s Boniface Kiprop, the world junior record holder.
Wanjiru set a world junior record time of 26min 41.75sec, eclipsing Kiprop’s 27:04.00 set at the same meeting the previous year.
No race captured the Wanjiru spirit better than the Beijing Olympic marathon in August 2008. It was his first full marathon and Wanjiru, at 21, was the youngest man in the field of 98 competitors from 57 countries.
The field crawled through the opening 10 kilometres in 29min 25sec before Wanjiru charged ahead with Ethiopia’s Derba Merga. The Kenyan attacked, dropping Merga and two-time world champion Jaouad Gharib of Morocco in the last 10km.
Wanjiru took the gold medal in an Olympic record time of 2hr 6min 32sec, erasing a 24 year old mark set by Portugal’s great Carlos Lopez at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
“Wanjiru put everything into something that he believed in,” Njenga said. “He was a rare talent, a sort of a person who warmed himself into many people’s hearts.”
There were jubilant celebrations in Kenya and thousands jammed into a local stadium in Nyahururu to welcome the hero back.
Success may also have brought Wanjiru’s downfall. It is believed Wanjiru’s life changed after he resigned from the Toyota company in Japan to return home to his wife Triza Njeri and three-year-old daughter Ann Wanjiru.
“By nature Wanjiru was a very humble man,” Njenga said.
“Many young athletes relied on him and he used to pay for their food and accommodation in Ngong. But he also started being surrounded by hangers-on who were not interested in his welfare. Their intention was to get a share of his money. He was slowly being destroyed by the local people.”
A feud between his mother and wife intensified and Wanjiru became emotionally torn.
A chance to move into the quieter region of Eldoret and train under Claudio Berardelli was seen a chance for the star to escape the distractions.
The night of his death he had just returned to Nyahururu and the cause of the turmoil in his life.
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Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
'Panga'
Directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring Kangana Ranaut, Richa Chadha, Jassie Gill, Yagya Bhasin, Neena Gupta
Rating: 3.5/5
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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Company profile
Company: Rent Your Wardrobe
Date started: May 2021
Founder: Mamta Arora
Based: Dubai
Sector: Clothes rental subscription
Stage: Bootstrapped, self-funded
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
MATCH INFO
Everton 2 Southampton 1
Everton: Walcott (15'), Richarlison (31' )
Southampton: Ings (54')
Man of the match: Theo Walcott (Everton)
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
CONCRETE COWBOY
Directed by: Ricky Staub
Starring: Idris Elba, Caleb McLaughlin, Jharrel Jerome
3.5/5 stars
UAE rugby in numbers
5 - Year sponsorship deal between Hesco and Jebel Ali Dragons
700 - Dubai Hurricanes had more than 700 playing members last season between their mini and youth, men's and women's teams
Dh600,000 - Dubai Exiles' budget for pitch and court hire next season, for their rugby, netball and cricket teams
Dh1.8m - Dubai Hurricanes' overall budget for next season
Dh2.8m - Dubai Exiles’ overall budget for next season
Who is Ramon Tribulietx?
Born in Spain, Tribulietx took sole charge of Auckland in 2010 and has gone on to lead the club to 14 trophies, including seven successive Oceania Champions League crowns. Has been tipped for the vacant New Zealand national team job following Anthony Hudson's resignation last month. Had previously been considered for the role.
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
FIXTURES
All kick-off times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Brackets denote aggregate score
Tuesday:
Roma (1) v Shakhtar Donetsk (2), 11.45pm
Manchester United (0) v Sevilla (0), 11.45pm
Wednesday:
Besiktas (0) v Bayern Munich (5), 9pm
Barcelona (1) v Chelsea (1), 11.45pm
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
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Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
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In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Company%20Profile
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Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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ENGLAND SQUAD
Joe Root (captain), Dom Sibley, Rory Burns, Dan Lawrence, Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Ben Foakes (wicketkeeper), Moeen Ali, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes, Jack Leach, Stuart Broad
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
Moonfall
Director: Rolan Emmerich
Stars: Patrick Wilson, Halle Berry
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
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