Former world and Olympic dash champion Tori Bowie dies at 32 | Sport

The previous Olympic and world champion sprinter Tori Bowie has died on the age of 32, her administration firm confirmed on Wednesday.

“My coronary heart breaks for the household of Tori Bowie,” wrote the three-time Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce on Twitter. “An incredible competitor and supply of sunshine. Your vitality and smile will at all times be with me. Relaxation in peace.”

Bowie was discovered useless at her house in Orlando, Florida after the native sheriff’s division mentioned they went “for a well-being test of a girl in her 30s who had not been seen or heard from in a number of days.” The division mentioned they weren’t treating the demise as suspicious.

“USATF is deeply saddened by the passing of Tori Bowie, a three-time Olympic medalist and two-time world champion,” Max Siegel, the CEO of USA Observe and Subject, mentioned in an announcement. “A proficient athlete, her influence on the game is immeasurable, and she or he will likely be vastly missed.”

The American gained three gold medals on the worldwide stage. Her first got here as a part of the USA 4x100m relay group on the 2016 Olympics. 2017 was much more profitable: she added one other relay gold on the World Athletics Championships in London and gained particular person gold within the 100m, beating Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josée Ta Lou in a photograph end.

“I had no concept. All I knew was I needed to provide it every thing I’ve bought,” Bowie mentioned after her victory. “Am I actually world champion?”

She gained two different Olympics medals: a silver and bronze within the 100m and 200m respectively in Rio in 2016.

Bowie was born and raised in Mississippi. She performed basketball as a woman earlier than her expertise on the observe grew to become obvious: she gained state titles within the 100m, 200m and lengthy soar.

“I bear in mind simply racing in every single place as a baby, like within the timber, wherever … I raced on a regular basis,” she informed the Guardian in 2017.

She loved extra success in school after securing an athletic scholarship to the College of Southern Mississippi, the place she gained nationwide titles in 2011 in indoor and outside lengthy soar. She focused on that self-discipline after commencement earlier than her explosive velocity persuaded her to give attention to sprinting in 2014. Bowie returned to the lengthy soar in 2019, ending fourth on the world championships. She didn’t try to qualify for the US group on the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

“She was a really enthusiastic, glowing character,” Craig Poole, who coached Bowie at a number of factors in her profession, informed the Related Press. “She was actually enjoyable to work with.”

Bowie was raised by her grandmother within the city of Sand Hill, which had fewer than 100 individuals, however her expertise propelled her to the worldwide stage.

“At some point I hope that I can come to Sand Hill and there’s this large signal that claims, ‘Welcome to Sand Hill, house of Tori Bowie,’” she mentioned in 2016.