The athletics fraternity was thrown into yet more grief and mourning following the death of middle-distance runner Clement Kemboi in Elgeyo Marakwet county.

Kemboi is believed to have died by suicide after his body was found hanging from a tree near St Patrick’s Boys High School, a few metres from Iten.

The athlete’s body was found hanging on a rope tied to a tree near the national school in Koisungur village, said Elgeyo Marakwet Police Commander Peter Mulinge. The body was moved to the Iten County Referral Hospital morgue.

“Scene-of-crime officers rushed to the scene of the incident after being alerted by members of the public,” Mulinge said, adding that police were investigating the incident.

Kemboi specialised in the 3,000m steeplechase, winning in the 2005 Africa Games as a teenager.

Six years later, he won his first international circuit at the 2011 Weltklasse in Biberach, Germany, running a personal best of 8:34.22 in the 3,000m.

Notable performance

His other notable performance came in 2015, when he won his first international medal in the Africa Games men’s steeplechase aged just 23.

In a stellar year for him, he was ranked eighth worldwide in the men’s steeplechase, and at some point he drew comparisons to his legendary namesake Ezekiel Kemboi.

His personal best time in the 3,000m came in 2016 at the Doha Diamond

League, where he recorded an impressive time of 8:10.65.

Kemboi’s death came as Kenyans were coming to terms with the death of another athlete – Kipyegon Bett – in Bomet.

Bett passed away on Sunday, October 6, at Tenwek Hospital as he received treatment for an unnamed ailment. The 2016 World U20 champion in the 800m was 26 years old.

Purity Kirui, Bett’s sister, said The athlete had been unwell for over a month and had gone to AIC Litein Hospital as an outpatient before his condition worsened.

Just days earlier, retired marathoner Samson Kandie died after an attack near his Elgon View estate home in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County.

It is believed Kandie’s assailants patiently waited for the 53-year-old to arrive at his home before pouncing on him. They tied his hands and legs and fatally attacked him.

Except for his phone, nothing else was missing from his home.