The late record-breaking athlete Agnes Tirop's colleagues have painted a picture of her troubled last moments before she was found dead on Wednesday, October 13.
Speaking to the press, the colleagues, who trained together with her, revealed that she was going through a rough patch in her marriage at the time.
Boniface Kimutai, her pacesetter during training, noted that the two last met on Sunday, October 10, and she seemed troubled before asking for a few days off.
The two had been scheduled to resume training after she felt better.
“I am her pacesetter. We shared the same training programme and she was like a mother to all of us. It is painful that she has left us in this manner. It is difficult for our training group to accept her demise,” Kimutai told The Standard.
Another marathoner who lives close to her and identified as Sussy Chebet, told the press that Chebet had mostly kept to herself and never talked about her marriage.
She further added that there were tell-tale signs that her marriage was troubled but she could not confide in anyone despite being pressed about it.
“Recently, I spotted her training. All was not rosy in her relationship. I urge fellow athletes to share troubles in their marriage. Problems can be handled when we speak up,” she noted.
Police, who combed through the house she lived in with her husband, who is now missing, found CCTV camera that they are reviewing to establish what transpired.
Keiyo South OCPD, Tim Makori, told the press that Tirop's body had a stab wound in the neck and a pool of blood was found under her bed.
Makori further indicated that they acted on a tip from the parents of both Tirop and her husband who went to the Iten Police Station on Wednesday morning.
They were following up on a report filed by the deceased's father the previous day, indicating that her daughter was missing.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the deceased's husband could have been involved in her death.
"We are looking for him and are hoping that he can tell us what really transpired," he stated.
The star athlete had just become the world record holder last month after winning the 10km road race. She clocked 30:01 during the Adizero Road to Records event in Herzogenaurach, Germany.
At the age of 19 years, Tirop become the youngest winner of the World Cross since Zola Budd in 1985 and the second youngest in World Cross Country Athletics history.
