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Agnes Tirop

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(Redirected from Agnes Jebet Tirop) Kenyan long-distance runner (1995–2021)

Agnes Tirop
Agnes Tirop wearing a red athletic Nike jacket with a Kenyan flag, a 2019 World Athletics Championships placard, as well as her bronze medal, standing on a podium next to another contestant (not seen in photo), holding a bouquet of yellow flowers, grinning at audience.Tirop with her bronze medal at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha
Personal information
Birth nameAgnes Jebet Tirop
Born(1995-10-23)23 October 1995
Uasin Gishu County, Kenya
Died13 October 2021(2021-10-13) (aged 25)
Iten, Kenya
Sport
CountryKenya
SportAthletics
Event(s)5000 metres, 10,000 metres; Cross country
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals
  • 2020 Tokyo
  • 5000 m – 4th
World finals
  • 2017 London
  • 10,000 m –  Bronze
  • 2019 Doha
  • 10,000 m –  Bronze
Personal bests
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing Kenya Kenya
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2017 London 10,000 m
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Doha 10,000 m
World Junior Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2012 Barcelona 5000 m
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Eugene 5000 m
World Cross Country Championships
Gold medal – first place 2013 Bydgoszcz Junior team
Gold medal – first place 2015 Guiyang Senior race
Gold medal – first place 2017 Kampala Senior team
Silver medal – second place 2013 Bydgoszcz Junior race
Silver medal – second place 2015 Guiyang Senior team
African Cross Country Championships
Gold medal – first place 2014 Kampala Junior race
Silver medal – second place 2012 Cape Town Junior race

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 at the 2017 and 2019 World Athletics Championships. At the 2015 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, Tirop became the second-youngest ever gold medallist in the women's race, after Zola Budd. At the time of her death in 2021, she was the world-record holder in the 10 kilometres women's-only event.

At junior level, she was a bronze medallist at the 2012 and 2014 World Junior Championships in Athletics as well as the silver medallist at the 2013 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. She won a silver and a gold at the 2012 and 2014 African Cross Country Championships, respectively.

Tirop was killed at the age of 25 by multiple stab wounds to the neck and stomach. Her husband, Ibrahim Rotich, is on trial as the prime suspect. She was buried in her hometown in the Kenyan highlands at a funeral attended by over 1,000 mourners.

Career

Tirop first came to prominence at the national level in 2012, when she was runner-up to world junior champion Faith Kipyegon 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. She was Kenya's most prominent entrant for the 5,000 metres at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics and finished with a bronze medal in a personal best of 15:36.74 minutes, behind Ethiopian competition.

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 2013 IAAF World Cross Country Championships—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 3,000 metres and 14:50.36 minutes for the 5,000 metres, and also on the roads, with a half marathon best of 71:57 minutes.

In the 2014 season, Tirop finally emerged from Kipyegon's shadow. She won the Kenyan cross country junior title and then dominated the junior race at the 2014 African Cross Country Championships, leading Kenya to victory by a 14-second margin (Kipyegon won both senior races). Tirop was unable to achieve such a margin over runner-up Alemitu Heroye at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Athletics and was again third in the 5,000 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 that 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 was seen as Kenya's leading athlete, and Tirop as a key team member. Despite this being her senior international debut and as 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 Zola Budd'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, Tirop participated in the World Championships held in London, winning the bronze medal in the 10,000 metres 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 of 31:19.

Tirop won her second consecutive world bronze medal in the 10,000 metres at the 2019 World Athletics Championships, held in Doha, Qatar, running a new personal best of 30:25.20.

At the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Tirop came fourth in the 5,000-metre event. In September that year, she smashed the world record in a women-only 10-kilometre race, set in 2002, by 28 seconds. She then ran a time of 30:01 at the Road to Records event hosted in Herzogenaurach, Germany. In October, she came second at the Giants Geneva 10K race, behind Ethiopia's Kalkidan Gezahegne, in a time of 30:20.

Death

Tirop was found dead in her home in Iten, Elgeyo-Marakwet County, on 13 October 2021; she had multiple stab wounds in the 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, Ibrahim Rotich, when he went missing after calling his family crying and asking for God's forgiveness for something he had done. He was then involved in a lengthy high-speed chase, trying to flee the country, and ultimately rammed his getaway vehicle into a truck near Mombasa. He was subsequently arrested and questioned about Tirop's death. Rotich was remanded for two years while awaiting trial for Tirop's murder but was granted release on bail in November 2023 to await trial.

Tirop was buried near her parents' home in Kapnyamisa, Nandi County, on 23 October 2021.

Her younger sister Everlyne Jepngetich, who lived with her, testified that Ibrahim Rotich had been violent to Agnes and that on the night before the killing, Everlyne heard Rotich bitterly quarrelling with Tirop for many hours, and that the next morning, she saw her sister badly beaten.

In December 2023, the prosecution tabled a suicide note, found at the scene, written by Rotich. In the note, Rotich claimed that he was in a toxic relationship with Tirop, and that it was better if he died by suicide.

In November 2024, the case was updated with new testimonies: Joseph Cheromei, Tirop's longtime coach, and Giani Demadona, an Italian athletics manager, testified that both were concerned for Tirop's safety because she had a lover, which could have angered her separated husband, who had previously been violent to her. Miriam Rotich, Ibrahim Rotich's sister-in-law, testified that he had borrowed her car on the day of Tirop's murder, and when she saw him, he appeared unusually tense and was sweating profusely. He subsequently crashed the car while attempting to escape to Tanzania and being pursued by the police. Tirop's father and brother had previously testified that Rotich didn't allow Tirop to communicate with her family or financially assist them. Tirop's pacesetter, Victor Koilel, testified that Rotich spent the money Tirop earned and assaulted her whenever she questioned him.

Aftermath

Tirop's murder shook the Kenyan athletics community and the sports world.

In 2021, the NGO Tirop's Angels was founded by fellow athletes. It aims to help victims of gender-based violence in Kenya and abroad. In May 2024, the organization opened a centre in Iten that will serve as a shelter for victims of violence and abuse.

Personal bests

These were Tirop's lifetime bests:

Road

International competitions

Agnes Tirop (R in red) with her second world 10,000 m bronze at the 2019 World Athletics Championships, in Doha
Representing  Kenya
Year Competition Venue Position Event Result
2012 African Cross Country Championships Cape Town, South Africa 2nd Junior race 19:34
World Junior Championships Barcelona, Spain 3rd 5000 m 15:36.74
2013 World Cross Country Championships Bydgoszcz, Poland 2nd Junior race 17:51
1st Junior team 14 pts
2014 African Cross Country Championships Kampala, Uganda 1st Junior race 18:51
1st Junior team 13 pts
World Junior Championships Eugene, OR, United States 3rd 5000 m 15:43.12
2015 World Cross Country Championships Guiyang, China 1st Senior race 26:01
2nd Senior team 19 pts
2017 World Championships London, United Kingdom 3rd 10,000 m 31:03.50 PB
2019 World Championships Doha, Qatar 3rd 10,000 m 30:25.20 PB
2021 Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan 4th 5000 m 14:39.62 SB

References

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  40. ^ Esene, Shalom (7 May 2024). "In Honor of Slain Olympian, Family and Friends Open Center for Gender-Based Violence Survivors in Kenya". Okay Africa. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
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  42. McAlister, Sean (25 November 2023). "Tirop's Angels: How the death of one of the world's most promising athletes began a movement against gender-based violence". Olympic Games. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
  43. "Agnes Jebet TIROP – Athlete Profile". World Athletics. Retrieved 15 October 2021.

External links

World Athletics Senior Women's World Cross Country champions
Short course
Long course
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