Kiplagat’s physique was discovered with a knife wound to his neck, suggesting he was murdered, based on the native police.
Ugandan athlete Benjamin Kiplagat has been discovered useless in Kenya, police say, with Uganda’s Day by day Monitor and different media retailers in Kenya reporting he had been stabbed to demise.
The Kenyan-born Kiplagat, 34, had represented Uganda internationally within the 3,000-metre steeplechase, together with at a number of Olympic Video games and World Championships.
His physique was found in a automotive on the outskirts of Eldoret, a city located within the Rift Valley, on Saturday evening.
Eldoret is thought for being house to quite a few athletes who bear coaching within the high-altitude area.
“An investigation has been launched and officers are on the bottom pursuing leads,” native police commander Stephen Okal informed reporters in Eldoret on Sunday.
He stated Kiplagat’s physique had a deep knife wound to his neck, suggesting he was stabbed.
‘Shocked and saddened’: condolences pour in
“World Athletics is shocked and saddened to listen to of the passing of Benjamin Kiplagat,” the worldwide athletics governing physique stated in a press release on X, previously Twitter.
“We ship our deepest condolences to his associates, household, teammates and fellow athletes. Our ideas are with all of them at this tough time.”
Peter Ogwang, state minister for sports activities in Uganda, expressed comparable sentiments on X.
I’m saddened to listen to in regards to the demise of our athlete, Benjamin Kiplagat who was reportedly murdered in Kenya. I ship my deepest condolences to his household, Ugandans, and the complete East Africa for the lack of such a budding athlete who has on a number of events represented us on… pic.twitter.com/yX29cBnAl3
— Peter Ogwang (@OgwangOgwang) December 31, 2023
“I ship my deepest condolences to his household, Ugandans, and the complete East Africa for the lack of such a budding athlete who has on a number of events represented us on the worldwide scene,” he stated.
Media stories stated Kiplagat had been coaching within the Eldoret space earlier than going to Uganda to take part in athletics competitions.
Nonetheless struggling to return to phrases with it. Former 3000m steeplechase runner Benjamin Kiplagat was murdered earlier as we speak in western Kenya. His neck was lower with a knife. He represented Uganda at 3 @Olympics & 6 @WorldAthletics Championships. Received 2008 world junior silver in Poland… pic.twitter.com/tclMqs2k0D
— Darren Allan Kyeyune (@AllanDarren) December 31, 2023
Kiplagat, whose operating profession spanned about 18 years, gained the silver medal within the 3,000-metre steeplechase on the 2008 World Junior Championships and bronze on the Africa Championships in 2012.
He made the semi-finals of the occasion on the 2012 Olympic Video games in London and competed in Rio in 2016.
His demise follows the killing in October 2021 of Kenyan distance operating star Agnes Tirop, who was discovered stabbed to demise on the age of 25 in her house in Iten, a coaching hub close to Eldoret.
Her husband, Ibrahim Rotich, went on trial for her homicide final month. The 43-year-old has denied the cost towards him and was freed on bail simply earlier than the trial opened.
