Tori Bowie, the sprinter who won three Olympic medals at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, has died. She was 32.
Bowie's death was announced Wednesday by her management company and USA Track and Field. No cause of death was given.
“USATF is deeply saddened by the passing of Tori Bowie, a three-time Olympic medalist and two-time world champion," USA Track and Field CEO Max Siegel said in a statement. “A talented athlete, her impact on the sport is immeasurable, and she will be greatly missed,” The Associated Press quoted him as saying.
According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in Orlando, Florida, deputies responded Tuesday afternoon to a home in the area “for a well-being check of a woman in her 30s who had not been seen or heard from in several days.”
The sheriff's office wrote that a woman, "tentatively identified as Frentorish “Tori” Bowie (DOB: 8/27/1990), was found dead in the home. There were no signs of foul play.”
Growing up in Sandhill, Mississippi, Bowie was coaxed into track as a teenager and quickly rose up the ranks as a sprinter and long jumper. She attended Southern Mississippi, where she swept the long jump NCAA championships at the indoor and outdoor events in 2011.
Bowie turned in an electric performance at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where she won silver in the 100 and bronze in the 200. She then ran the anchor leg on a 4x100 team with Tianna Bartoletta, Allyson Felix and English Gardner to take gold.
A year later, she won the 100 meters at the 2017 world championships in London. She also helped the 4x100 team to gold.
“She was a very enthusiastic, sparkling personality,” said track coach Craig Poole, who worked with Bowie early in her career and again later. “She was really fun to work with.”
