World champion sprinter and three-time Olympic medalist Tori Bowie has died at the age of 32, her management team and USA Track and Field each confirmed on social media Wednesday.
The Orange County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office said its deputies were conducting a welfare check at a home in Winter Garden, Florida at about 1 p.m. on Tuesday after receiving reports that a woman in her early 30s ‘had not been seen or heard from in several days.’ They found the woman, tentatively identified as Bowie, dead in the home.
The sheriff’s office said ‘there were no signs of foul play’ and did not release any additional information. In response to questions about Bowie, a spokesperson for the Orange County Medical Examiner’s Office said cause and manner of death are pending.
‘We’ve lost a client, dear friend, daughter and sister,’ the sports agency that represented Bowie, Icon Management Inc., wrote on Twitter. ‘Tori was a champion…a beacon of light that shined so bright! We’re truly heartbroken and our prayers are with the family and friends.’
Bowie, whose given first name was Frentorish, grew up in Sandhill, Mississippi – a tiny unincorporated community in the middle of the state. She was raised by her grandmother, who took Bowie in after she and her younger sister were left in foster care.
Bowie graduated from Pisgah High School in 2008 before starring as a long jumper at Southern Miss, where she was a three-time All-American. Her career skyrocketed after she shifted her focus from jumping to the sprinting events in 2014, and she quickly blossomed into one of Team USA’s fastest women.
‘She was a very enthusiastic, sparkling personality,’ Bowie’s one-time coach Craig Poole told The Associated Press.
Bowie went on to win a three medals at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, including silver in the 100-meter dash and bronze in the 200. She also ran the anchor leg in the women’s 4×100 relay, in which Team USA won gold. She returned to the U.S. as one of the country’s breakout performers on the track and received a hero’s welcome in Mississippi, where Nov. 25 was dubbed ‘Tori Bowie Day.’
‘I’ve never even thought about anything like this,’ she told The Hattiesburg American, which is part of the USA TODAY Network. ‘It’s like back in Sandhill, they have a sign right when you turn inside (the campus at Pisgah High, her alma mater), they actually have a sign, it says ‘Tori Bowie Lane.’ To see things like that and like this, it’s just like miracles, I guess.’
By the end of 2017, Bowie had become a world champion in both the women’s 100 and 4×100 relay. She also placed fourth at the 2019 world championships, in the long jump. She last competed professionally in June, placing fifth in her only race of the season.
Bowie’s death came as a shock to the track and field community Wednesday. Fellow Olympic medalists Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Noah Lyles and Brittney Reese were among those who paid tribute to her on social media.
‘A great competitor and source of light. Your energy and smile will always be with me,’ Fraser-Pryce wrote on Twitter.
Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee, also offered his condolences, saying in a statement that he was ‘shocked and deeply saddened’ by Bowie’s death. USA Track & Field offered a similar statement.
‘Her impact on the sport is immeasurable, and she will be greatly missed,’ the national governing body said.
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.