Simon Maina
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's athletics | ||
Representing  Kenya
|
||
| Commonwealth Games | ||
 |
1998 Kuala Lumpur | 10,000 m |
Simon Maina Munyi (born 18 March 1978) is a Kenyan former long-distance runner who competed in track and road running events. In his first year of international competition, he was the gold medallist in the 10,000 metres at the 1998 Commonwealth Games.
Maina was also runner-up at the 1998 Goodwill Games and represented Kenya at the 1999 All-Africa Games and Chiba Ekiden. He has personal bests of 27:18.74 minutes over 10,000 m and 60:48 minutes for the half marathon. He was the 1998 Kenyan champion over 10,000 m.
Based in Japan, he ran for the Toyota corporate running team. He won twice on the track at the Japan Championships in Athletics over 5000 metres. He switched to road running after 2004 and had podium finishes in the Nagoya and Sapporo half marathons. After suffering an injury in 2007 he was dropped by Toyota and was subsequently arrested and deported from Japan for violating his athlete's visa, raising concern in the sports media over foreign runners' treatment in Japan.
Born Simon Maina Munyi in Nyeri, Kenya, he was trained by Kenyan running coach David Miano as a teenager. Maina moved to Japan in 1997 to compete for the Toyota corporate running team, based in Aichi Prefecture. That same year he won the 5000 metres at the Japanese Athletics Championships – a feat he repeated the following year with a championship record. He set two track bests at the start of the 1998 outdoor season, running 27:21.14 minutes for the 10,000 metres for second place at the Hyogo Relays, then recording 13:10.71 minutes for third at the Prefontaine Classic 5000 m. The former time meant he was ranked in the top ten runners that year. He rose to the top of the national scene at the Kenyan Athletics Championships, winning the 10,000 m title with a sub-28-minute run.
...
Wikipedia