Samson Kitur (February 25, 1966 — April 25, 2003) was a Kenyan

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

, and an Olympic medalist in 1992.

Biography

Unlike most of his compatriots, who run in distances

800 metres The 800 metres, or 800 meters (American and British English spelling differences#-re.2C -er, US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of a ...

and up, Kitur specialised in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

. He won the continental championship in 1991, and the next year he took the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

, behind winner

Quincy Watts Quincy D. Watts (born June 19, 1970) is an American former athlete, and two-time gold medalist at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Career Born in Detroit, Michigan, Quincy Watts attended the University of Southern California (USC) where he excelled a ...

. A year later, another bronze medal was his at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

. He died suddenly of an unspecified illness at age 37 in his home in

Eldoret Eldoret is a city in the Rift Valley region of Kenya. It serves as the capital of Uasin Gishu County. Located in western Kenya and lying south of the Cherangani Hills, the local elevation varies from about at the Eldoret International Air ...

, his home Kerotet Village near Ziwa. Two of his brothers were also Olympic athletes:

Simon Kitur Simon Kitur (born 12 June 1959) is a retired Kenyan athlete who specialized in the 400 metres hurdles. He competed at the 1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingd ...

and

David Kitur David Kitur (born October 12, 1962) is a retired Kenyan runner, who specialised in 400 metres. In 1983, at the inaugural world championships he was part of the Kenyan 4x400 metres relay team, which reached semifinals. He competed at the 1984 Sum ...

External links

*
Sports-reference profile
1966 births 2003 deaths Kenyan male sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Kenya Olympic bronze medalists for Kenya World Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Kenya Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Kenya Commonwealth Games athletes for Kenya African Games gold medalists for Kenya African Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1995 All-Africa Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1991 All-Africa Games World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists Medallists at the 1990 Commonwealth Games 20th-century Kenyan sportsmen Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games silver medallists in athletics {{Kenya-Olympic-medalist-stub