Body of Japan-based Kenyan athlete expected back home next week

The body of a Kenyan athlete who died in Japan earlier this month arrives back home next week, it has been confirmed.

This is contrary to reports that the body of distance runner Cynthia Wanjiku Mbaire had been detained in a Japanese hospital over Sh1.3 million in unpaid medical bills.

Multiple sources, including Kenya’s embassy in Tokyo, confirmed that Wanjiku’s body leaves Tokyo on May 2, and will arrive in Kenya two days later on May 4.

Wanjiku, 20, a professional runner with the Hitachi Building Company, was based in Chiba Prefecture and died on April 14, reportedly from cancer.

Kenyan-Japanese athletics coach Stephen Mayaka, who has been involved with the management of Kenyan athletes for over 30 years now, confirmed that all the paperwork had been done for Wanjiku’s body to be transported to Kenya.

"The truth is that the body is not detained in hospital, contrary to the rumours and speculation. Wanjiku’s body will be coming to Nairobi next week. We are processing everything," Mayaka assured on Thursday.

He described Wanjiku as "a very strong athlete" who made a mark in the Ekiden (relay marathon) which is quite popular in Japan, adding that the athlete’s family is aware of the latest preparations.

“Her next of kin were not known immediately, but I managed to trace them at her home in Mau Narok. The Kenyan embassy in Tokyo is also in touch with the family and the process of transporting the body is being followed keenly by the family," Mayaka told Nation Sport on telephone from Tokyo.

Last Friday, Hitachi Building Company held a farewell memorial for the athlete in Chiba which was attended by her company teammates and officials, alongside officials from the Kenyan embassy in Tokyo.

"We saw claims in the media emanating from Nyahururu that the athlete’s body has been detained. I'm dealing directly with this matter and there's no such thing. The fact is that the body departs Tokyo on May 2 and arrives in Nairobi on May 4,” an official in the Kenyan embassy in Tokyo, who preferred anonymity owing to protocol issues, told Nation Sport.

“Stories that body is detained are unfounded. We have worked on this matter with Mayaka since it occurred and the paperwork has been done and shared with the family,” the official added on telephone from the Kenyan mission in Meguro-ku, Tokyo.

In a statement issued while announcing the athlete’s demise, Hitachi Building Company’s athletics head coach and former Japanese track international Satoru Kitamura described Wanjiku, who dominated her high school running days in Japan, as “kind and considerate.”

"She was always kind and considerate of those around her, and she brightened the mood on the team and gave us all courage. She made us all smile, and we are saddened to the depth of our hearts," Kitamura, a sixth-place finisher for Team Japan at the Asian Championships in the 5,000 metres (2013) and 10,000 metres (2010) said.

Wanjiku travelled to Japan for her high school studies, enrolling at the Kamimura Gakuen High School in Ichikikushikino, Kagoshima, where, at the age of 16, she set a meet record in the 2019 South Kyushu High School Championships’ 3,000 metres race with a time of eight minutes, 49.72 seconds.

In 2019 she also won the 1,500m and 3,000m at the National High School Championships before joining Hitachi where her star continued to shine in the inter-company competitions (East Japan Corporate Championships).