Kenyan world record holder athlete Agnes Tirop found stabbed to death, husband a 'suspect' goes missing

Kenyan world record holder Agnes Tirop has been murdered at her home in the western town of Iten. The police team is treating her husband as a suspect who has gone missing. Agnes Tirop was 25.

A criminal investigation is now underway into her death, with police saying her husband has gone missing.

According to BBC, on Wednesday, crime scene investigators were at the house of Tirop, who police say was reported missing by her father on Tuesday night.

According to police, she was stabbed in the neck and the wound caused her death.

One of the world's leading distance runners, Tirop broke the women-only world record for 10km last month, clocking 30:01 in Herzogenaurach. She was also the 2015 world cross-country champion, a two-time world medallist over 10,000m, and had placed fourth over 5000m at this year's Olympic Games in Tokyo. "Kenya has lost a jewel," Athletics Kenya said in a statement. "She was one of the fastest-rising athletics giants on the international stage thanks to her eye-catching performances on the track," it added. Born in Uasin Gishu County, Tirop first came to prominence in 2012 when, aged 16, she notched up a series of podium finishes in national-level cross-country races.