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

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

, and an Olympic medalist in 1992.

Biography

Unlike most of his compatriots, who run in distances

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( 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 an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

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 (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

. 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 receive ...

at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

, behind winner

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

. 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: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

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

Eldoret Eldoret is a principal town in the Rift Valley region of Kenya and serves as the capital of Uasin Gishu County. The town was referred to by white settlers as Farm 64, 64 and colloquially by locals as 'Sisibo'. As per the 2019 Kenya Population ...

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

External links

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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 of Kenya Olympic bronze medalists for Kenya Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics 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 African Games gold medalists for Kenya African Games 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 {{Kenya-Olympic-medalist-stub