Athlete-turned-philanthropist Ruth Waithera is Kenya’s all-time best sprinter who held the 400m national record for more than 30 years until it was broken in 2017.

Along the way, she won bronze over 200m at the 1978 All Africa Games and 1979 African Championships. She twice swept the 100m, 200m and 400m races at the East and Central African Championships in 1977 and 1979.

The Los Angeles Olympics in 1984 remain the pinnacle of her long career as she raced to history as the first African woman to reach the 400m Olympic final.

While studying at the University of Arizona, she won the 400m NCAA Division I Women’s Indoor Championship in 1984. In 1990, she was awarded membership to the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame.

Born on 17 August 1958, Waithera is now retired from athletics. In 1998, she established the Avenue Sports Club to give orphaned children an opportunity in athletics.