Agnes Jebet Tirop (23 October 1995 – 13 October 2021) was a Kenyan professional long-distance runner. She won bronze medals in the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The ra ...

at the

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

and

2019 World Athletics Championships The 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships () was the seventeenth edition of the biennial, global athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), since renamed World Athletics. It was held betw ...

. At the 2015 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, Tirop became the second-youngest ever gold medallist in the women's race after

Zola Budd Zola Budd (also known as Zola Pieterse; born 26 May 1966) is a South African middle-distance and long-distance runner. She competed at the 1984 Olympic Games for Great Britain and the 1992 Olympic Games for South Africa, both times in the 30 ...

. At the time of her death in 2021, she was the world-record holder in the 10 kilometres women's only event. She was a medallist at junior level at the

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

and

2014 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2014 World Junior Championships in Athletics was an international athletics competition for athletes qualifying as juniors (born 1995 or later) which was held at the Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, USA, on 22–27 July 2014. A total of 44 ...

as well as the

2013 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2013 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 24, 2013. The races were held at the Myślęcinek Park in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Kenya topped the medal standings in the competition with 5 gold, and Ethiopia had the most overall ...

. She was also the junior champion at the

2014 African Cross Country Championships The 2014 African Cross Country Championships was the third edition of the international cross country running competition for African athletes organised by the Confederation of African Athletics. It was held on 16 March at the Kololo Golf Course in ...

Career

Agnes Tirop first came to prominence at the national level in 2012, when she was runner-up to world junior champion

Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon (born 10 January 1994) is a Kenyan middle-distance runner specializing in the 1500 metres. A 2016 Rio Olympic and 2020 Tokyo Olympic champion with the Games record at the latter, she is the second woman in history t ...

at the Kenyan Cross Country Championships. This led to her first national selection and international medal at the 2012 African Cross Country Championships; where she was again the runner-up to Kipyegon and took the junior silver medal.Williamson, Norrie (19 March 2012)
Langat and Chepkirui take African XC titles in Cape Town
IAAF. Retrieved on 28 March 2015. She was Kenya's most prominent entrant for the 5000 metres at the

2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics was an international athletics competition for athletes qualifying as juniors (born 1993 or later) which was held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, on 10–15 ...

and finished with a bronze medal in a personal best of 15:36.74 minutes behind Ethiopian opposition. Tirop was again second to Kipyegon at the 2013 Kenyan Cross Country Championships and teamwork between the pair led to a Kenyan 1–2 and team title at the

– Kipyegon defended her title while Tirop was a narrow second to claim her first medal at the competition. She made progress on the track that year, setting personal bests of 8:39.13 minutes for the 3000 metres and 14:50.36 minutes for the 5000 metres, and also on the roads with a

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcut ...

best of 71:57 minutes. In the 2014 season she finally emerged from Kipyegon's shadow. Tirop won the Kenyan cross country junior title and then dominated the junior race at the

, leading the Kenyans to victory by a 14-second margin (Kipyegon won both senior races). She was unable to achieve such a margin over African runner-up

Alemitu Heroye Alemitu Heroye Banata (born 9 May 1995) is an Ethiopian professional long-distance runner. She was World Junior Champion over 5000 metres in 2014 and placed fourth at the 2015 World Cross Country Championships. Career Alemitu Heroye represen ...

at the

and was again third in the 5000 m, while the Ethiopians extended Kenya's historic lack of a gold medal in that event. Tirop entered the senior ranks in the 2015 season and immediately performed well, winning the Eldoret Discovery Cross Country in Kenya. She was second to Kipyegon at the Kenyan senior national championship race and earned a senior national selection – a performance which filled her with confidence. She said at the time "I did not even believe I could make the team. I will not fear running against seniors." For the 2015 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, after Kipyegon withdrew the reigning world champion

Emily Chebet Emily Chebet Muge (born 18 February 1986) is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who specialises in the 10,000 metres and cross country running. She is a two-time winner of the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, being the gold medal ...

was seen as Kenya's leading athlete, and Tirop as a key team member. Despite this being her senior international debut and the fourth youngest athlete in the field, Tirop took to the front and gradually moved away from the field to win the senior gold medal some five seconds ahead of Ethiopia's

Senbere Teferi Senbere Teferi (born 3 May 1995) is an Ethiopian professional middle- and long-distance runner who competes mainly in the 1500 metres and cross country running. She was the silver medallist at the 2015 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. ...

. This made the 19-year-old the second-youngest winner of that title in championships history, after

's win in 1985, and also brought her Kenya's 300th medal at the competition. With Ethiopia rounding out the top four and defending champion Chebet in sixth, Kenya came in second in the team race. In 2017 she participated in the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

held in London, winning the bronze medal in the

event, with a time of 31:03.50, her personal best in the distance. In 2018, she won the

World 10K Bangalore The World 10K Bengaluru (known as the TCS World 10K Bengaluru for sponsorship reasons by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)) is an annual 10 kilometres road running competition which takes place in Bangalore, India. The competition was first ...

race in a course record time. She won a bronze medal in the same event at the

. At the delayed

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

, Tirop came fourth in the 5000 metres event. In September 2021, Tirop broke the world record in a 10 kilometres women-only event. She set a time of 30:01 in an event in Herzogenaurach, Germany. In October 2021, she came second in the Giants Geneva race behind Kalkidan Gezahegne in a time of 30:20.

Death

Tirop was found dead in her home in Iten,

Elgeyo-Marakwet County Elgeyo-Marakwet County is one of Kenya's 47 counties. Elgeyo Marakwet County is located in the former Rift Valley Province. Its capital and largest town is Iten. It borders the counties of West Pokot to the north, Baringo County to the east, so ...

, on 13 October 2021; she had multiple stab wounds in her neck and abdomen. Authorities believe a domestic altercation occurred and Tirop was stabbed, as they also found her car windows had been shattered. A search began for Tirop's husband, Emmanuel Rotich, when he went missing after calling his family crying and asking for God's forgiveness for something he had done. He then was involved in a lengthy high-speed chase, trying to flee the country, when he ultimately rammed his getaway vehicle into a lorry near

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

. He was subsequently arrested and questioned about Tirop's death. Tirop's funeral was attended by around 1,000 people, and she was buried in her home town.

Personal bests

These were Tirop's lifetime bests. *

2000 metres The 2000 metres or 2000-metre run is a track running event where five laps are completed around an outdoor 400 m track, or ten laps around a 200 m indoor track - the distance is 11.68 meters short of 1¼ miles. The global governing body World Ath ...

– 5:48.65 (

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

2013) * 3000 metres – 8:22.92 (

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the count ...

2020) * 5000 metres – 14:20.68 (

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

2019) *

– 30:25.20 (

2019) ;Road * 5 km – 15:30 (

Bolzano Bolzano ( or ; german: Bozen, (formerly ); bar, Bozn; lld, Balsan or ) is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third la ...

2017) * 10 km – 30:01 ( Herzogenaurach 2021) List of world records in athletics, World record

International competitions

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tirop, Agnes Jebet 1995 births 2021 deaths Kenyan female long-distance runners World Athletics Cross Country Championships winners World Athletics Championships athletes for Kenya World Athletics Championships medalists Kenyan female cross country runners People from Uasin Gishu County Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Kenya Deaths by stabbing in Kenya Kenyan murder victims 2021 murders in Kenya Female murder victims People murdered in Kenya