Samuel Gathimba

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.

Born (1987-10-26) 26 October 1987 (age 38)

Nyeri County, Kenya

Height1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)

Weight57 kg (126 lb)

Country Kenya

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Samuel Gathimba

Personal information
Born	(1987-10-26) 26 October 1987 (age 38) Nyeri County, Kenya
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 Men's athletics Representing  Kenya Commonwealth Games 2018 Gold Coast 20 km walk African Games 2019 Rabat 20 km walk 2015 Brazzaville 20 km walk 2023 Accra 20 km walk African Championships 2016 Durban 20 km walk 2018 Asaba 20 km walk 2022 Saint Pierre 20 km walk 2014 Marrakesh 20 km walk

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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.^[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]