Andrew Wasike
22 October 2021•Update: 22 October 2021
NAIROBI, Kenya
Traffic was brought to a standstill on Friday in Kenya’s Eldoret town located in the Rift valley region as thousands marched to mourn the late Agnes Tirop, who was a World Cross Country champion.
The Kenyan Olympic star was found dead with a stab wound on Oct. 13. Authorities have said that she was allegedly stabbed by her husband.
The crowds that included athletes and Kenyans from all walks of life marched while holding a huge banner that read "End Gender-Based Violence".
In honor of other fallen athletes that have died in the past weeks, Athletics Kenya postponed the first and second legs of the Athletics Kenya Cross Country Series, which were to be held on Oct. 16 and 23 in Machakos and Iten, respectively.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has asked authorities who are holding Tirop’s husband Ibrahim Rotich to speed up the investigation and find justice for the slain athlete.
Athletics Kenya in a statement applauded "Kenyatta’s directive to speed up investigations and resolution of the circumstances surrounding the heinous murder of world 10,000m bronze medalist Agnes Tirop".
Tirop ranked fourth in the 5,000-meter final at this summer's Olympic Games in Tokyo.
On Sept. 12, she broke the record in the women’s 10,000 meters at Road to Records Race in Germany with a time of 30:01.
In October, Tirop bagged the silver medal in the Giants Geneva held in Sweden.
Tirop will be laid to rest on Saturday in Eldoret.
