Kenyan Olympian Agnes Tirop has been found dead in her home, according to local reports. Tirop, who competed in the women’s 5,000-meter race at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, was found dead in her apartment in the town of Iten, Kenya, The Standard reported.
The report said the 25-year-old athlete was found with stab wounds in her abdomen. “Tirop was found dead at their home in Iten after she was allegedly stabbed by her husband. We are still working to unearth more details surrounding her demise,” Athletics Kenya said in a statement.
“HEARTBREAKING!”, sports journalist Usher Komugisha tweeted. “She was just 10 days away from her 26th birthday. Rest in peace Queen!”
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Another fan wrote: “Heartbreaking to lose such an amazing talent in Athletics under weird circumstances. Kenya has lost big! Rest well 2015 World Cross Country Champion Agnes Tirop.”
Tirop broke the world record for the women’s 10,000-meter race in September. She represented her country at this summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo, where she finished fourth in the 5,000m women’s finals after clocking 14:39.62.
Tirop became the second-youngest medallist at the 2015 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in the women’s race.
She was a medallist at junior level at the World Cross Country and World Junior Championships. She was also the junior champion at the African Cross Country Championships in 2014.
Tirop had set a new women-only 10km world record just last month in Germany, crossing the line in 30:01. “I am so happy to break the world record,” she said. “The pace was tough but I felt my body was responding well.”
