Sammy Wanjiru - We Were Honoured to Host Such a Champion

On Thursday I attended a short remembrance and tribute to Kenyan athlete and Olympic Marathon champion Sammy Wanjiru, who died tragically in an accident at his home in Kenya a week ago at the age of just 24. The remembrance took place at Bedford International Athletics Stadium, and of course the reason why his death has been such a shock to so many here in Bedford is that Sammy spent a week here as part of a group of world class Kenyan athletes last June. That visit was initiated by the group Kenya Community Bedford, many members of which were present at the Stadium to pay their respects to a young man who was a superstar in his homeland, and with good reason. We were honoured to host the Olympic marathon champion, who was also surely destined to be one of the stars of the London 2012 games. All those who were fortunate enough to meet Sammy during his visit here recall how generous he was in giving his time and sharing his enthusiasm with the many school children, hospital patients, aspiring athletes and others he met and inspired in Bedford, and we send our deepest condolences to Kenya for this tragic loss.

The photo on the right was taken during Sammy Wanjiru's visit to Bedford last June, and shows Sammy, who is crouching in the front of the picture, on the right, with a number of his Athletics Kenya team mates in the Mayor's Parlour.