In October 2021, Agnes Tirop was found lying in a pool of blood in her modest bungalow in Iten, Kenya. Tirop, 25, who had recently set a world record in the women-only 10-kilometer road race, had been brutally murdered.
The man accused of killing Tirop was her husband. Ibrahim Rotich turned himself in to police a few days later and admitted to the crime. He later withdrew his confession, pleaded not guilty and now faces trial. On Nov. 15, he was granted bail. In the Bloomberg Investigates mini-documentary Run for Your Life, we reveal how runners, coaches, managers and police in this small town—the heartland of Africa’s running elite—found dozens of other cases of alleged domestic abuse, violence and property theft involving female athletes.
The prize money that’s flowed into Iten, along with lucrative endorsement contracts and bonuses from global sporting companies such as Adidas AG and Nike Inc., has raised the economic stakes for athletes there. A female runner successful enough to be signed by one of the big shoe brands and deliver consistent results at major races can earn as much as $1 million a year, a huge amount in a country where about one-third of the population still lives below the poverty line. In Kenya, roughly 30 top female runners earn more than $100,000 a year.
In Run for Your Life, we show how the money can be a powerful lure for men who offer their services to young runners as coaches or managers and sometimes marry them. In many cases, they have little formal training or experience, but they end up having financial control over the women’s lives.
Read More: A Runner’s Murder in Kenya Opens a Window Into Violence Against Women
To see all episodes of Bloomberg Investigates, click here.
