| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 26, 1987 |
| Height | 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) |
| Weight | 57 kg (126 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Country |  Kenya |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event | Men's 20km Walk |
Medal record | |
Samuel Ireri Gathimba (born 26 October 1987 in Nyeri County) 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.
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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]
