Nairobi (AFP)

The Kenyan police were on Thursday looking for the husband of Agnes Tirop, a promising 25-year-old athlete whose murder revealed the day before has stirred up emotion in the country and in the athletics world.

The double 10,000m world medalist (in 2017 and 2019) and 4th in the last 5,000m Tokyo Olympics was found dead, stabbed, at her home in Iten, a high-altitude town in western Kenya where many long-distance and middle-distance runners.

"We are making progress in the search for the killer," Tom Makori, police commander of the Keiyo North district, where Iten is located, told AFP on Thursday.

The day before, Mr. Makori had said that Emmanuel Rotich, the husband of Agnes Tirop, was the main suspect, "having made a call to the parents of Tirop to tell them that he had done something wrong".

"The sooner we make him reveal the circumstances which led to the murder of the young girl, the better it will be for all of us," said the police officer on Thursday.

Tirop's brutal death made the headlines of many media on Friday in Kenya, struck by emotion and amazement.

"The murder of a champion" headlined the daily The Daily Nation, "the life of an athlete cruelly shattered" claimed The Star.

“Agnes Tirop, had her life ahead of her and a thriving career ahead,” also writes The Daily Nation.

- "Rising star" -

The Kenyan Athletics Federation has announced a two-week suspension of competitions, in honor of Tirop and another long-distance runner, Hosea Mwok Macharinyang, who recently died of what was called suicide.

Kenyan Athletics President Jackson Tuwei holds a press conference in Nairobi on October 14, 2021 on the murder of Agnes Jebet Tirop Tony KARUMBA AFP

Its president, Jackson Tuwei, called her death a "real shock" to Kenyan athletics, of which she was one of the "rising stars".

On Thursday, bereaved people, some in tears, gathered at her family's home in the village of Kapnyamisa, about a two-hour drive from Iten.

“When we heard the news it was very sad, because Agnes has been a good person since she was young and Agnes has never been in conflict with anyone,” said her brother, Josephat Keter.

Her mother, Dinah Tirop, recalled with sadness the memory of her daughter, who provided for the needs of the family, including paying for the children's school fees.

Factsheet on Kenyan athlete Agnes Tirop found dead on October 13 John SAEKI AFP

Tirop broke the 10 km road world record a month ago in an all-female race in 30:01 seconds in Herzogenaurach (Germany).

She was revealed in 2015 when she won the title of world champion in cross country at just 19, becoming the youngest athlete to sign such a performance since South African Zola Budd in 1985.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta also paid tribute to him.

"It is heartbreaking, extremely unhappy and sad to lose such a promising and young athlete who, at 25, had already brought glory to our country through her exploits on the track," said the head of state in a communicated.

"Her death is all the more difficult to take since Agnes, the heroine of Kenya, was the victim of a cowardly and selfish criminal act," he lamented.

© 2021 AFP