His story
Douglas Wakiihuri, OGW, OLY, was born in Mombasa, Kenya, on 26 September 1963. At 19 he moved to Japan to join the S&B Foods running team, the first Kenyan to run for a Japanese corporate team. He had admired its star marathoner, Toshihiko Seko, and he trained under coach Kiyoshi Nakamura.
Few people outside Japan knew his name when he lined up at the 1987 World Championships in Rome. He won the marathon in 2:11:48, the first Kenyan to win the world marathon title. No other Kenyan man won a world or Olympic marathon title until 2007. Reporters were surprised when he answered their questions in fluent Japanese.
A year later he took Olympic silver in Seoul, behind Gelindo Bordin, Kenya’s first Olympic marathon medal. Seoul was the late Nakamura’s birthplace, and a medal there had mattered to him. Wakiihuri said he thought his teacher would be glad even of a silver rose.
In 1989 he became the first Kenyan to win the London Marathon, in 2:09:03, his best time. In 1990 he became the first Kenyan to win Commonwealth Games marathon gold, in Auckland, and won the New York City Marathon. He was known for racing in white gloves. In 1995 he won the World Cup Marathon in Athens.
After racing he turned to coaching and music. From 2014 he coached Kenya’s First Lady, Margaret Kenyatta, to her first half marathon and the London Marathon. He also coaches Lillian Nganga, who credits him with introducing her to proper running.
In 2021 the Emperor of Japan conferred on him the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays, for his contribution to sporting and cultural ties between Japan and Kenya. Japan’s ambassador, Horie Ryoichi, presented it in Nairobi on 11 June 2021. “I was passed a tasuki, a sign of responsibility from Japanese people to continue running in the race of life,” Wakiihuri said. “This decoration is not only for me but for all of you who cheered for me all through the race.”
Kenya has honoured him too. President Daniel arap Moi awarded him the Silver Star of Kenya in 1988, and President Uhuru Kenyatta made him an Order of the Grand Warrior of Kenya in December 2021. In 2022 Nairobi’s Aerodrome Road, beside Nyayo Stadium where he trained, was renamed Douglas Wakiihuri Road. In 2023 he was named a National Hero on Mashujaa Day.