Kenyan police arrest the husband of Olympic champion Agnes Tirop on suspicion of killing the athlete

(CNN) – Kenyan police detained athlete Agnes Tirop’s husband after she was stabbed to death on Wednesday.

“The alleged killer husband of Agnes Tirop, the long-distance runner heroine recently killed at her home, has been arrested,” the Kenya National Police Service (NPS) said in a statement on Twitter on Friday. .

“The suspect, one Ibrahim Kipkemoi Rotich, who was on the run, was caught in Mombasa by diligent police detectives,” the statement said.

The NPS said Rotich is being held at the Changamwe Police Station and was “awaiting transfer to Iten, where he is expected to face trial.”

The NPS added that Rotich was detained along with another suspect, Silas Chilla Chellile, and that both individuals were assisting police in their investigations.

Rotich was arrested on Thursday in Changamwe, Mombasa County, when “he tried to flee to a neighboring country to evade the action of justice,” the Kenya Criminal Investigations Directorate said in a statement on Twitter.

The DCI says Rotich stabbed Tirop before going into hiding.

“First thing in the day [jueves]Around noon, Rotich had rammed his vehicle into a truck in Athi River, along the Mombasa highway, while desperately escaping, “the DCI said.

Agnes Tirop, medalist and owner of the world record in 10 kilometers

Tirop, a 25-year-old world-record 10-kilometer medalist, was found dead at her home in Iten, Kenya, after being “allegedly stabbed,” the Kenya Athletics Association (AK) reported in a release.

The 25-year-old won bronze medals in the 10,000 meters at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships and finished fourth in the 5,000 meters at the Tokyo Games.

Last month, Tirop made history by lowering the old women’s world record of 10 kilometers by 28 seconds at the Adizero Road To Records event in Germany.

Tirop finished in a time of 30:01, breaking the previous record of 30:29, set by Moroccan Asmae Leghzaoui in 2002.