The husband of Kenya’s two-time World Championship bronze medallist, Agnes Jebet Tirop, who was found stabbed to death, is being treated as a suspect in the murder investigation.
The 25-year-old long-distance runner, who represented Kenya at the Tokyo Olympics, was found dead in her house in Iten, Elgeyo Marakwet County on Wednesday, October 13.
Chairperson of Athletics Kenya in the Nairobi Region, Barnaba Korir, who confirmed the tragic news, said the deceased had stab wounds in the abdomen.
A criminal investigation is under way, with her husband now at the centre of it. Police say he has gone missing and they are searching for him.
Elgeyo Marakwet County police chief Tom Makori has said he is wanted for questioning.
He said: “When police went to Tirop’s house they found her in bed with blood under the bed and a lot of it on the floor.
“When police looked at the body, it looked like she had been stabbed on the neck with what we suspect to be a knife.”
Police have also said there may have been a domestic dispute between Tirop and her husband because her car had its windscreen and windows smashed in.
According to BBC, Tirop also suffered a stab wound to her stomach as well as the one found on her neck.
Crime scene investigators were present at the house on Wednesday.
She was reported missing by her father on Tuesday which prompted the discovery of her body.
Tirop, who was 25, starred for her country at Tokyo 2020, finishing fourth in the Olympic 5,000m final. She then went on to set a world record for a women’s only 10km road race in Germany last month.
