Two-time World Championship bronze medallist Agnes Tirop has been found stabbed to death at her home in Kenya.
The 25-year-old won bronze medals at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships in the 10,000m, also winning the 2015 World Cross Country Championships.
Chairperson of Athletics Kenya in the Nairobi Region, Barnaba Korir, confirmed the tragic news of the incident which occurred in Iten, Elgeyo Marakwet County.
Reports state that she was found in her house with stab wounds to her abdomen
Tirop had set a new women-only 10km world record just last month in Germany, crossing the line in 30:01, saying: ‘I am so happy to break the world record. The pace was tough but I felt my body was responding well.’
The distance-runner represented Kenya at the Tokyo Olympics this summer in the 5,000m, where she finished fourth on 2 August this year.
She narrowly missed out on an Olympic medal despite running a season best time of 14:39.62 in the 5,000m, with Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay crossing in 14:38.87.
Tirop’s triumph at the 2015 World Cross Country Championships at just 19-years-old made her the second-youngest winner of the women’s race ever, behind the legendary Zola Budd.
Tirop had travelled the world winning medals with Kenya, claiming bronze in the 5,000m at the World Junior Championships in Barcelona in 2012 and winning gold in the junior team race at the World Cross Country Championships in Poland the following year.
Her Cross County glory in 2015 came in Guiyang, China, before World Championship medals in the UK and Qatar
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