Former World Champion Runner Kipyegon Bett Dies at 26 After ‘Stomach Pains’

Former junior world champion runner Kipyegon Bett has died following a short illness. He was 26.

The Kenyan athlete — who won the 800 meter title in 2016 — died in a hospital in Bomet, Kenya on Sunday, Oct. 6, according to the BBC and Nation Africa.

Bett’s sister, Purity Kirui, told the BBC that he had been in a hospital since last Monday after he “started vomiting blood.”

“He had been sick, complaining of stomach pains for about a month,” Kirui said. “The doctors said he had a liver problem and had been in and out of hospital.”

Bett had been struggling with alcohol in the ensuing years after he was banned from the sport for doping violations, his sister said. The middle-distance runner tested positive for erythropoietin (EPO) in 2018 and was banned for four years, per Nation Africa.

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In 2022, the runner placed third in the 400-meter hurdles at the Third Athletics Kenya Track and Field Meeting, which was his last competition.

Kirui — herself a competitive runner who won the 3,000 meter steeplechase twice at the Commonwealth Games — said the family tried to intervene after it was clear Bett was struggling.

“We tried to help him stop drinking, but whenever we wanted to take him to rehab he would disappear from home for days,” she told the BBC.

Bett also suffered from depression and was not paying attention to his diet.

Over the weekend, his condition worsened, Kirui said.

“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,” she said. “We tried everything to save him, but he left us. It’s very painful.”