Tori Bowie, the sprinter who won three Olympic medals at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, has died. She was 32. (More Sports News)
Bowie’s death was announced on Wednesday by her management company and USA Track and Field. No ca▨use 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 imme✃asurable, and she will be greatly missed.”
According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in Orlando, Florida, deputies responded Tuesday afternoon to a hom꧅e in the area “for a weꦰll-being check of a woman in her 30s who had not been seen or heard from in several days.”
The sheriff’s office wrote tha🀅t 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 Misꦓsissippi, 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 th🧜e 2017 world championships in London. She also helped the 4x100 team to gold.
“She was a very enthusiastiꦓc, sparkling personality,” said 𓄧track coach Craig Poole, who worked with Bowie early in her career and again later. “She was really fun to work with.”
The track and field community mourned t🥀he loss of Bowie on social media. Jamaican sprint sensation Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce posted on Twitter: “My heart breaks for the family of Tori Bowie. A great competitor and source of light. Your energy and smile will always be with me. Rest in peace.”
Added U.S. hurdler Lolo Jones: “Too young. Gutted to hear about🃏 Tori B✤owie. Incredible talent. A beautiful runner. I pray for the comfort of her family, thank your for blessing us with her. The running community mourns an incredible loss.”
Brittney Reese, a three-time Olympic medalist in the long jump, wrote: “I’m so heartbroken over this ... You have made a lot of us proud thank you for representing our state of Missis✤sippi like you did❀ ... RIP!”
Bowie was taken in by her grandmother as an infant after she 𒉰was left at a foster home. She considered herself a basketball player and only reluctantly showed up for track, but Bowie was a fast learner, becoming a state champion in the 100, 200 and long jump before going to college.
Her first major international medal was a 100-meter bronze at worldܫs in 2015. After winning, she said, “my entire life my grandmother🥂 told me I could do whatever I set my mind to.”
In a post on Twitter, Icon Management includ📖ed a picture of Bowie holding up her hands in the shape of a heart. The management company wrote: “We’ve lost a client, dear friend, daughter and sister. Tori was a champion…a beacon of light that shined so bright! We’re truly heartbroken and our prayer🐎s are with the family and friends.”
