He was cremated at the age of 26. Mourners, including fellow athletes, lined up to scatter flowers on the white coffin. Atop the coffin was a picture of Tirope, smiling and holding a bronze medal.
“For us Kenyans, Kenyans have lost a hero,” said women’s 5,000m world champion and Tirope mentor Helen Obiri. “I told him that in 2022, he had to go and defend my title and represent our country,” Obiri said, tears welling up in his eyes.
Police arrested Tirope’s husband Ibrahim Rotich in the coastal city of Mombasa last week on suspicion of murder. Neither Rotich nor his representatives have made any public comment on the matter.
Last month, Tirop broke the only 10km world record for women in Germany. She won bronze medals in the 10,000 meters at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships.
Tirope grew up in a humble farming family in the Kenyan Highlands of Nandi County. Her talent for running became evident in the fourth grade, when she won a cross-country race and she soon entered the international junior race and went on to win. Since then his career was on the rise.
After his murder, the police found an athletics trophy in his house, which he had not yet opened.
“A disciplined, humble athlete … I do not know. I do not know what to say, ”said coach Julius Kirva.