Kipyegon Bett dead at 26: Former world junior 800m champion dies after short illness

FORMER junior world 800m champion Kipyegon Bett has passed away aged 26.

The Kenyan died following a short illness.

AFP or licensorsKipyegon Bett has passed away aged just 26[/caption]

GettyThe Kenyan won 800m gold in the 2016 Junior World Championship[/caption]

GettyBett won bronze in the 800m World Championships in London in 2017[/caption]

The runner had been in and out of hospital with a liver problem, his sister shared.

Purity Kirui told BBC Sport Africa: “He had been sick, complaining of stomach pains for about a month. The doctors said he had a liver problem and had been in and out of hospital.

“Last week we took him to hospital after he started vomiting blood and he was admitted. I went to see him (on Sunday) morning and he told me he was in pain.

“He told our dad, who is a pastor, to pray for him because he didn’t feel he would survive and after 12 noon he died. We tried everything to save him, but he left us. It’s very painful.”

Bett was a promising runner in his youth and followed up his junior world championship success by winning world bronze in London in 2017.

But a year later Bett was hit with a four-year doping ban and he struggled on his return, with his sister revealing he “started drinking a lot”.

His coach Japheth Kemei described Bett as a gifted athlete and he expected him to make a comeback after his ban, but suggested Bett was unable to due to his battles with depression.

Kirui confirmed her brother’s plight, saying: “When Kipyegon was banned he started drinking a lot, wouldn’t eat well and suffered depression.

“We tried to help him stop drinking, but whenever we wanted to take him to rehab he would disappear from home for days.

“I tried to get him back into athletics when his ban ended by getting him running kit and shoes.

“Before his death we had a plan to try one more time to take him to a rehabilitation centre in Kisumu.”

Bett was suspended in August 2018 for refusing to submit a sample and subsequently tested positive for erythropoietin (EPO).

He followed in Kirui’s footsteps by becoming an athlete, with his sister winning Commonwealth gold in the 3000m steeplechase in 2014.