Agnes Jebet Tirop (23 October 1995 – 13 October 2021) was a Kenyan professional

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance running comes two d ...

. 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 ser ...

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 bet ...

. At the

2015 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2015 IAAF World Cross Country Championships () was the 41st edition of the global championships in cross country running, organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It was held in Guiyang, China on 28 March. It was th ...

, 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 3000 ...

. At the time of her death in 2021, she was the world-record holder in the

10 kilometres 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

women's only event. She was a medallist at junior level at the

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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 overal ...

. She was also the junior champion at the 2014 African Cross Country Championships.

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 at the

Kenyan Cross Country Championships The Kenyan Cross Country Championships is an annual cross country running competition that serves as the national championship for Kenya. It is organised by Athletics Kenya and has permit race status from the International Association of Athletics ...

. 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 The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...

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 The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

and 14:50.36 minutes for the

, 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 shortcu ...

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 2014 African Cross Country Championships, 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 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

, after Kipyegon withdrew the reigning world champion Emily Chebet 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. 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 race in a course record time. She won a bronze medal in the same event at the

. At the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics, Tirop came fourth in the

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 Herzogenaurach (; vmf, Herziaura) is a town in the district of Erlangen-Höchstadt, in Bavaria, Germany. It is best known for being the home of the major international sporting goods companies Adidas and Puma, as well as the large car parts m ...

, 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 Iten is a town in Elgeyo-Marakwet County in the Republic of Kenya. Iten serves as the capital and is the largest town in the county. The town is located along the road between Eldoret and Kabarnet at the junction of the road heading to Kapsowa ...

, Elgeyo-Marakwet County, 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 – 5:48.65 (

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

2013) *

– 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 c ...

2020) *

– 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 ...

2017) * 10 km – 30:01 (

2021)

World record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book '' Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizati ...

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