Olympic medal-winning sprinter Tori Bowie mourned after death at 32
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Tori Bowie was found dead in her home in Orlando. Her cause of death was not immediately known.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LOS ANGELES – Tori Bowie, a three-time Olympic medallist and 2017 100m world champion, was remembered on Wednesday as a rare athletics talent and warm friend after her death at the age of 32.
The American anchored the United States team who won 4x100m relay gold
USA Track and Field (USATF) and her management company confirmed her death a day after sheriff’s deputies in Orlando, Florida, found her dead at her home. The cause of death was not immediately known.
“This is beyond stats and speed,” retired US sprint great Justin Gatlin said on Instagram. “Tori was a beautiful human being and had a smile that made you want to smile too. A country girl that loved her roots. I remember sitting with Tori and listening to her stories of growing up and racing horses on foot.
“She was a fierce competitor and great teammate. A true legend that made her mark in our sport and hearts.”
USATF chief executive officer Max Siegel said the federation was “deeply saddened” by Bowie’s death.
“A talented athlete, her impact on the sport is immeasurable, and she will be greatly missed,” he said.
Icon Management tweeted it was “devastated to share the very sad news that Tori Bowie has passed away”.
“We’ve lost a client, dear friend, daughter and sister,” the firm said.
The sheriff’s office in Orange County, Florida, said deputies had found the woman identified as Bowie “when conducting a well-being check of a woman in her 30s who had not been seen or heard from in several days”.
“Entry was made into the residence and a woman was found dead in the home. There were no signs of foul play.”
Bowie, raised by her grandmother in rural Mississippi, converted from the long jump in 2014 and became the fastest woman in the world that year.
Two years later in Rio, she prevented a Jamaican clean sweep of the 100m medals when she finished second to Elaine Thompson
She won the 100m world title in London the following year and remains the lone American woman to win an Olympic or world 100m title since Carmelita Jeter in 2011.
Bowie then re-entered the long jump and came fourth at the 2019 world championships in Doha, her last major competition.
Sprinter Tianna Madison posted a picture of herself and Bowie on Twitter as they celebrated the United States’ relay triumph in Rio.
Fraser-Pryce, the Jamaican reigning 100m world champion, tweeted: “My heart breaks for the family of Tori Bowie. A great competitor and source of light... Rest in peace.”
International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said in a statement that “the sports world has lost a true champion”. AFP
