http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20110307-OHT1T00258.htm translated by Brett Larner Having made the 2011 World Championships marathon team by running a PB of 2:09:25 to come in 3rd overall and as the top Japanese finisher at the Mar. 6 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Hiroyuki Horibata (24, Team Asahi Kasei), talked to the media at Osaka Airport on Mar. 7. Following Sunday's race Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki , 67, told Horibata, "Let's cut things down a bit until the World Championships," directing him to go on a diet. The 189 cm Horibata weighs 72 kg [~6'3", 160 lbs]. When he joined Team Asahi Kasei in 2005 at age 18 he weighed 65 kg, and this weight is still generally listed on his profile at races and in the media. "For some reason it never changes," he said with a grin. His coach Takeshi Soh , 58, commented, "If he was hungrier for glory his world would change completely," slapping the 'heavyweight division runner...
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Comments
For those who haven't read the interviews on this website from December 2011, they are well worth putting aside an hour or two to digest - I am not aware of any similar insight/background available through other sources.
And additionally, there's a sizeable memorial article on ESPN (read the article, ignore the video) at
http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/7928880/why-kenya-olympic-marathon-champion-sammy-wanjiru-live-see-25-story-shocking-talent-sudden-wealth-bitter-intrigue
RIP Sammy Wanjiru. We'll probably never know what really happened, and we'll certainly never know just how good he could have become.
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery , right down to the Wikipedia attribution:
RIP Sammy