Former Kenya under-20 athletics champion Kipyegon Bett has died aged 26 in Bomet, Kenya, following a short illness.
The 800m specialist won his junior world title in 2016 and then took bronze at the senior World Championships in London the following year.
However, his career was halted in 2018 when he was handed a four-year doping ban and he struggled on his return.
“He had been sick, complaining of stomach pains for about a month. The doctors said he had a liver problem and had been in and out of hospital,” his sister Purity Kirui said.
“Last week we took him to hospital after he started vomiting blood and he was admitted. I went to see him [on Sunday] morning and he told me he was in pain.
“He told our dad, who is a pastor, to pray for him because he didn’t feel he would survive and after 12 noon he died. We tried everything to save him, but he left us. It’s very painful.”
Athletics Kenya official Barnaba Korir described Bett as “one of the most talented half-milers” in the world and a “polite, easy-going and extremely amiable” athlete.
Bett was one of Kenya’s high-profile athletes sanctioned for anti-doping violations by the Athletics Integrity Unit.
The runner was suspended in August 2018 for refusing to submit a sample and he subsequently tested positive for erythropoietin (EPO).
Kirui, a 3,000m steeplechase runner who won Commonwealth gold in 2014, said being absent from the track had an adverse effect on Bett, who was 20 at the time of his ban.
“When Kipyegon was banned he started drinking a lot, wouldn’t eat well and suffered depression,” a tearful Kirui said from their home in Bomet.
“We tried to help him stop drinking, but whenever we wanted to take him to rehab he would disappear from home for days.”
