Samuel Gathimba

Last updated
Samuel Gathimba
Personal information
Born (1987-10-26) October 26, 1987 (age 36)
Height1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight57 kg (126 lb)
Sport
CountryFlag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
SportAthletics
EventMen's 20km Walk
Medal record
African Games
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2015 Brazzaville 20 km walk
African Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2016 Durban 20 km walk
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2018 Asaba 20 km walk
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2014 Marrakech 20 km walk

Samuel Ireri Gathimba (born 26 October 1987) is a Kenyan racewalking athlete. He was the 20 kilometres walk gold medallist at the African Championships in Athletics in 2016. He holds a personal best of 1:19:24 hours.

Contents

Gathimba emerged at international level in 2014, taking a silver medal at the 2014 African Championships in Athletics behind Lebogang Shange of South Africa. He set a personal best of 1:23:59 hours to place second at the national championships that year, behind David Kimutai Rotich. [1] [2] He topped the podium at the 2015 national trials with a new best of 1:23:12 hours, which ranked him in the world's top 100 for the first time. [3] [4] He again demonstrated his place among the continent's best at the 2015 African Games where he lost out on the gold to Shange by a margin of one second. [5]

The 2016 season proved to be a breakthrough for Gathimba. At the 2016 African Championships in Athletics he was a gold medallist by a large margin, crossing the line in a championship record of 1:19:24 hours. This was a Kenyan record and was 22 seconds off Hatem Ghoula's near two-decade-old African best. [6]

He has qualified to represent Kenya at the 2020 Summer Olympics. [7]

International competitions

YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
2014 African Championships Marrakech, Morocco2nd 20 km walk 1:27:11
2015 African Games Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo2nd 20 km walk 1:26:44
2016 African Championships Durban, South Africa1st 20 km walk 1:19:24 CR
2018 Commonwealth Games Gold Coast, Australia3rd 20 km walk 1:19:51
African Championships Asaba, Nigeria1st 20 km walk 1:25:14
2019 African Games Rabat, Morocco 1st 20 km walk 1:22:48
2022 African Championships Port Louis, Mauritius1st 20 km walk 1:22:01

National titles

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References

  1. 2014 end-of-year reviews – race walks. IAAF (2014-12-22). Retrieved on 2016-07-01.
  2. Senior outdoor 2014 20 Kilometres Race Walk men. IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-07-01.
  3. Mutuota, Mutwiri (2015-08-01). ‘Fergie’ topples ‘King David’, Kiprop, Sum soar. Capital FM Sports. Retrieved on 2016-07-01.
  4. Senior outdoor 2015 20 Kilometres Race Walk men. IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-07-01.
  5. African Games Men's 20 km walk Results. Brazzaville2015. Retrieved on 2016-07-01.
  6. Botton, Wesley (2016-06-26). Van Niekerk takes 200m title, two more golds for Semenya as African Championships conclude. IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-07-01.
  7. Olobulu, Timothy (2021-06-19). "Conseslus, Timothy Cheruiyot out as Kenya names team for Tokyo Olympics". Capital Sports. Retrieved 2021-06-20.