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December 30, 2010

Top marathoner Sammy Wanjiru charged in Kenya

Wanjiru at the 2010 Chicago Marathon.
International marathon star Sammy Wanjiru has been charged by Kenyan authorities with violent behavior, as reported here.

The marathoner is accused of threatening a housekeeper, wounding a security guard and making threats against his wife's life, writes James Kariuki in Kenya's Daily Nation. He was allegedly then found with an AK-47 rifle. The athlete's lawyer says the situation was a setup, according to the Kenyan report.

Wanjiru has been a champion in multiple big events, including the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the London Marathon. Most recently, he won the Chicago Marathon.

As of Thursday afternoon, comments on the Daily Nation site ranged from conspiracy theories to sadness.

Wanjiru lives on an estate in the Rift Valley, which is home to most of Kenya's fastest runners.

Chicago Tribune file photo by Stacey Wescott

Posted by Patrick Maynard at 2:42 PM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Running
        

Comments

This not acceptable behavior regardless who he is. Women rights too should be treated with respect to the law. I wonder if the Ak-47 riffle was legal for him to carry around, or if issued to threaten the people. The court did the right thing to charge him. It should be an example for those who will attempt the same ill behavior. To be respected as a star doesnt mean he has power to threatened anybody, he is expected to show good example to upcoming athletes.

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About Exercists
Andrea Siegel, a reporter at The Baltimore Sun, covers mostly crime and courts in Annapolis and Anne Arundel County, as well as legal issues. She wishes she was more physically fit, and, as she's more fond of chocolate than exercise, fitness is a challenge. Her partner on a one-mile-plus daily walk is the family dog, a mixed breed named Moxie, and she exercises at the gym where the D.C. snipers once worked out.
Jerry Jackson has been a photo editor at The Baltimore Sun for 14 years and an avid cyclist for more than 30 years. Inspired by the movie "Breaking Away," he started racing as a teenager in Mississippi when leather "brain baskets" were still the norm. He regularly commutes to work by bike and still enters several mountain bike races a year for fun.
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Patrick Maynard, who will be writing about running and walking, has been a producer for baltimoresun.com since 2008. In 2009, he tweeted on-course for the Sun from the Baltimore Marathon, finishing in just under 4 hours and almost managing to run the whole time. He sometimes walks to the Sun offices on Calvert Street.
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Leeann Adams, a multimedia editor at The Baltimore Sun, also dabbles in content for the mobile website and iPhone app and covers the Ravens via video. She did a triathlon to celebrate her 40th birthday and continues to swim, bike and run -- none of them quickly, though. Her biggest fitness challenge is to balance working, working out, spending time with her husband and being a mom to a 6-year-old boy.
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Anica Butler, the Sun's crime editor, is a former high school runner and recovering vegetarian who spent more of her early-adult years on a bar stool than working out. She is currently training (though poorly) for a half marathon and is trying to live a generally healthier lifestyle. She also hates the gym.
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