Former world junior 800m champion tragically dies aged 26

Former world under-20 athletics champion Kipyegon Bett has died at the age of 26 in Bomet, Kenya, after a "brief illness".

The Kenyan 800m specialist won the junior world title in 2016 and secured a bronze medal at the senior World Championships in London the following year.

However, his career faced a massive setback in 2018 when he received a four-year ban from the sport due to a doping violation. The ban reportedly weighed heavy on the young athlete, and he struggled mentally in the following years, as reported by Athletics Weekly.

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Bett's illness is believed to be liver failure and linked to a battle with alcoholism.

His sister, Purity Kirui, shared with BBC Sport Africa that Bett had been unwell for about a month, suffering from stomach pains. "The doctors said he had a liver problem and he had been in and out of the hospital," she revealed.

"Last week, we took him to the hospital after he began vomiting blood, and he was admitted. When I visited him on Sunday morning, he told me he was in pain. He asked our dad, who is a pastor, to pray for him because he didn’t think he would survive. He passed away shortly after noon. We tried everything to save him, but it’s very painful to lose him."

Kirui, an athlete herself who won gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in the 3000m steeplechase, said that Bett had struggled with his mental health following the ban and would spend much of his time drinking. The family tried to rehabilitate him on a number of occasions, but their attempts were unsuccessful, the BBC reported.

Bett’s period of ineligibility ended in August 2022, but he found it challenging to return to a sport where he once held significant respect. "I tried to encourage him to get back into athletics by getting him running gear and shoes," Kirui told African sports news outlet Nation.

Bett was the fourth of six siblings and took up athletics to follow in his sister's footsteps.

Japheth Kemei, Bett’s coach, lamented. "He was a gifted athlete who even beat [800m] world record holder David Rudisha in a race, showing his immense potential. I had hoped he would return to athletics after his ban, but he faced many challenges."

At the 2017 World Championships, Bett clocked 1:45.21 and placed third behind France’s Pierre-Ambroise Bosse and Poland’s Adam Kszczot. That year he also won the 800m at the Shanghai Diamond League, with a time of 1:44.70, as documented by World Athletics.

However, Bett tested positive for EPO in 2018 and received an immediate four-year ban on the back of it. He only ever raced once after it ended, and that was in the 400m hurdles two years ago.

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