Two-time Chicago Marathon champion Samuel Wanjiru buried in Kenya
June 11, 2011 9:00AM
Triza Njeri, center, wife of the late Kenyan runner Sammy Wanjiri, controls her emotions as the coffin containing Wanjiri is loaded into a funeral van at a funeral home in Nairobi, Kenya, on Saturday, June, 11, 2011. Wanjiri, who set a blistering pace to shatter the 24-year-old Olympic record in the marathon, died on May 15 in Nyahururu, Kenya. (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)
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NYAHURURU, Kenya — Thousands of people have attended the funeral of Olympic marathon champion Samuel Wanjiru at a stadium in his hometown.
Wanjiru, the first Kenyan to win a gold medal in the marathon at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, was later given a 21-gun salute as his coffin was lowered into a grave at his farm.
The 24-year-old Wanjiru died May 15 after falling from his apartment balcony. His death is still being investigated by Kenyan authorities after conflicting reports over whether it was a suicide or an accident.
Wanjiru won five of his seven marathons and was the youngest runner to win four major marathons.
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