The Mysterious Death of Sammy Wanjiru
Before Sunday's Chicago Marathon, a look at the life of a champion runner
By Anna Clark
POSTED OCTOBER 6, 2011

When he toed the starting line at last year's Chicago Marathon, Sammy Wanjiru didn't look good. Sure, he was the reigning champion in Chicago; in fact, he'd set the course record. He had an Olympic gold medal safely stashed at home. But past glory wasn't much of a lift for Sammy these days. There were rumors that he wasn't training hard, rumors that he was getting too comfortable with the lifestyle of a celebrity athlete. His own manager said Sammy wasn't in shape. Sammy hadn't finished his last two races before Chicago because of back and knee injuries. A stomach virus pulled him from a week of critical training shortly before Chicago. And joining him in this race were four other men who'd run marathons under 2:06 — which, in case you're calculating, translates to a pace of under five minutes per mile for 26.1 26.2 miles. In a row.

Sammy might have been the most talented runner in the field, but it didn't look like this would be his day.