"We lost a client, a dear friend, a daughter and a sister. Tori was a champion and a real ray of sunshine," her agency Icon Sport Management wrote on its social networks without providing details on the circumstances of the death.
World athletics and then the United States Athletics Federation (USATF) confirmed the death of the sprinter. "His athletic legacy is immeasurable, she will be sorely missed," Max Siegel, the director of U.S. track and field, said in a statement.
Bowie had built a stellar track record, first winning three Olympic medals in Rio in 2016 with gold in the 4x100m relay, silver in the 100m behind Jamaica's Elaine Thompson-Herah, and bronze in the 200m.
She then became world champion in the straight line in 2017 in London, where she also won the title in the 4x100m relay.
After a last blow of brilliance in 2019 at the World Championships in Doha (4th in the long jump), the Mississippi sprinter (personal best of 10.78 seconds over 100m) has never been able to find her best level.
She had only competed in one official competition in 2022, a 200m in Florida, far from international games.
"My heart breaks thinking of Tori Bowie's family, a superb rival and a solar person. Your energy and your smile will stay with me forever," Jamaican sprint legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, a two-time Olympic 100m champion, wrote on her social networks.
© 2023 AFP