Kenyan athletics rising star Agnes Tirop stabbed to death

A month ago, she broke the world record for the 10 km in an all-female race in 30:01 in Herzogenaurach, Germany. Agnes Tirop, the rising star of Kenyan athletics, twice world medalist in 10,000m and 4e of the Tokyo Olympics over 5,000 m, was found dead, stabbed in the abdomen, at her home in Iten, a famous high-altitude training center in western Kenya, announced on Wednesday (October 13th). Kenyan sports officials.

She won bronze at the 10,000m Worlds in 2017 and 2019, and became the cross-country world champion in 2015. “Kenya lost a diamond who was one of the fastest growing athletes on the international stage thanks to her remarkable performances on the track”, lamented the Kenyan athletics federation in a statement. “We continue to work to clarify the circumstances of his death”, specifies the press release.

“Upsetting”

Tom Makori, police commander in Keiyo district, said Emmanuel Rotich, husband of Agnes Tirop, was wanted. “He can tell us what happened, said the policeman. The suspect made a call to Tirop’s parents to tell them that he had done something wrong. So we think he knows what happened. “

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta also paid tribute to the champion:

“It is heartbreaking, extremely unhappy and sad to lose such a promising and young athlete who, at 25, had already brought glory to our country through her exploits on the track. ”

“Her death is all the more difficult to take since Agnes, the heroine of Kenya, was the victim of a cowardly and selfish criminal act”, he laments in a press release.

The World with AFP

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