Agnes Jebet Tirop was a young track star for Kenya who won bronze in the 2017 and 2019 World Championships, finishing third in the 10,000 meter event. She also took home gold in the 2015 World Cross Country Championships, which made her the second youngest medalist in the history of the event.
This week is a tragic week as her young life came to a violent end after she was found dead from what is believed to be a stab wound in her home on Wednesday. She had been reported missing by her father on Tuesday.
“When [police] got in the house, they found Tirop on the bed and there was a pool of blood on the floor,” head of police Tom Makori said, per the BBC. “They saw she had been stabbed in the neck, which led us to believe it was a knife wound, and we believe that is what caused her death.”
“Her husband is still at large, and preliminary investigations tell us her husband is a suspect because he cannot be found,” Makori continued. “Police are trying to find her husband so he can explain what happened to Tirop.”
Kenya’s athletic body put out a statement following the tragic news:
“Athletics Kenya are distraught to learn about the untimely death of World 10,000m bronze medallist Agnes Tirop,” the country’s athletics body said in a statement.
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“We are still working to unearth more details surrounding her demise. Kenya has lost a jewel who was one of the fastest-rising athletics giants on the international stage, thanks to her eye-catching performances on the track.”
Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta is so upset over the news that he urged law enforcement to get to the bottom of the alleged killing.
“It is unsettling, utterly unfortunate and very sad that we’ve lost a young and promising athlete who, at a young age of 25 years, had brought our country so much glory. It is even more painful that Agnes, a Kenyan hero by all measures, painfully lost her young life through a criminal act perpetuated by selfish and cowardly people.
“I urge our law enforcement agencies to track down and apprehend the criminals responsible for the killing of Agnes so that they can face the full force of the law.”
Tirop, who participated in the 2020 Summer Olympics, finished fourth in the 5,000 meter event.
