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.
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.2014 end-of-year reviews – race walks. IAAF (2014-12-22). Retrieved on 2016-07-01.Senior outdoor 2014 20 Kilometres Race Walk men. IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-07-01. 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.Mutuota, Mutwiri (2015-08-01). ‘Fergie’ topples ‘King David’, Kiprop, Sum soar. Capital FM Sports. Retrieved on 2016-07-01.Senior outdoor 2015 20 Kilometres Race Walk men. IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-07-01. 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.African Games Men's 20 km walk Results. Brazzaville2015. Retrieved on 2016-07-01.
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.Botton, Wesley (2016-06-26). Van Niekerk takes 200m title, two more golds for Semenya as African Championships conclude. IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-07-01.
He has qualified to represent Kenya at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
International competitions 2014African ChampionshipsMarrakesh, Morocco2nd20 km walk1:27:112015African GamesBrazzaville, Republic of the Congo2nd20 km walk1:26:442016African ChampionshipsDurban, South Africa1st20 km walk1:19:24 2018Commonwealth GamesGold Coast, Australia3rd20 km walk1:19:51African ChampionshipsAsaba, Nigeria1st20 km walk1:25:142019African GamesRabat, Morocco1st20 km walk1:22:482022African ChampionshipsPort Louis, Mauritius1st20 km walk1:22:012024African GamesAccra, Ghana2nd20 km walk1:28:06
National titles Kenyan Athletics Championships 20 km walk: 2015
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