Kenyan middle-distance runner Kipyegon Bett, the former world under-20 athletics champion, has died at the age of 26 in Bomet, Kenya, following a short illness.
The 800m specialist achieved significant early success, winning his junior world title in 2016 and securing a bronze medal at the senior World Championships in London in 2017.
However, his career was derailed in 2018 after he was handed a four-year doping ban for refusing to submit a sample and subsequently testing positive for the banned substance erythropoietin (EPO).
According to his sister, Purity Kirui, Bett had been suffering from stomach pains for about a month, which doctors identified as a liver problem. His health deteriorated rapidly last week, leading to his hospitalization. Kirui recounted that Bett told their father, who is a pastor, to pray for him as he did not expect to survive, and he passed away shortly after noon on Sunday.
Kirui also shared that the long absence from the track and the doping ban had a severe adverse effect on Bett’s mental health. She stated that he struggled with depression and began drinking heavily and eating poorly, which contributed to his decline. Bett’s period of ineligibility ended in August 2022, but he was unable to recapture his former form.
Athletics Kenya official Barnaba Korir called Bett “one of the most talented half-milers” in the world, remembering him as a “polite, easy-going and extremely amiable” athlete.
