Waithaka is a rare breed of athlete, says coach
By David Macharia, July 20, 2022Stanley Waithaka who bagged a silver medal in the 10,000m race in the ongoing World Athletics Championships in Oregon, USA, has been described as a rare breed of athlete by his coach, Francis Kamau.
The coach, popularly known as Esmi, said Waithaka has a ‘rare tough mind’ that enables him to fall, rise and continue with a race as if nothing happened.
With two silvers in his cabinet, Waithaka can also be referred to as the new Mr Silver in Kenyan athletics, after Eliud Kipchoge’s coach Patrick Sang who earned that title because of winning many silver medals in his running career.
In addition to the silver he won in Oregon, Waithaka has bagged another silver medal in 5000m from the 2018 World Under 20 Championships held in Finland. In 2017 he won bronze in the 3000m race during the World Under 17 held in Nairobi.
Born in a family of seven children, one of Waithaka’s sisters Rose Mburu specialises in running the 3000m race.
She is also a member of the Esmi training camp in Nyahururu from where Waithaka honed his running skills before joining the Japanese yoghurt making company, Yakurt.