{"id":228230,"date":"2024-10-08T15:08:36","date_gmt":"2024-10-08T15:08:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/10\/08\/former-junior-world-800m-champion-bett-dies-aged-26\/"},"modified":"2024-10-08T15:08:36","modified_gmt":"2024-10-08T15:08:36","slug":"former-junior-world-800m-champion-bett-dies-aged-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/10\/08\/former-junior-world-800m-champion-bett-dies-aged-26\/","title":{"rendered":"Former junior world 800m champion Bett dies aged 26"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n

\"Bett's Bett’s world under-20 title came in the Polish city of Bydgoszcz<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Former world under-20 athletics champion Kipyegon Bett has died aged 26 in Bomet, Kenya, following a short illness.<\/p>\n

The 800m specialist won his junior world title in 2016 and then took bronze at the senior World Championships in London the following year.<\/p>\n

However, his career was halted in 2018 when he was handed a four-year doping ban and he struggled on his return.<\/p>\n

“He had been sick, complaining of stomach pains for about a month. The doctors said he had a liver problem and had been in and out of hospital,” his sister Purity Kirui told BBC Sport Africa.<\/p>\n

“Last week we took him to hospital after he started vomiting blood and he was admitted. I went to see him [on Sunday] morning and he told me he was in pain.<\/p>\n

“He told our dad, who is a pastor, to pray for him because he didn’t feel he would survive and after 12 noon he died. We tried everything to save him, but he left us. It’s very painful.”<\/p>\n

Athletics Kenya official Barnaba Korir described Bett as “one of the most talented half-milers” in the world and a “polite, easy-going and extremely amiable” athlete.<\/p>\n

Derailed by drugs ban<\/b><\/p>\n

Bett was one of Kenya’s high-profile athletes sanctioned for anti-doping violations by the Athletics Integrity Unit.<\/p>\n

The runner was suspended in August 2018 for refusing to submit a sample and he subsequently tested positive for erythropoietin (EPO).<\/p>\n

Kirui, a 3,000m steeplechase runner who won Commonwealth gold in 2014, said being absent from the track had an adverse effect on Bett, who was 20 at the time of his ban.<\/p>\n

“When Kipyegon was banned he started drinking a lot, wouldn’t eat well and suffered depression,” a tearful Kirui said from their home in Bomet.<\/p>\n

“We tried to help him stop drinking, but whenever we wanted to take him to rehab he would disappear from home for days.”<\/p>\n

Bett’s period of ineligibility ended in August 2022, but he struggled to return to a sport where he once commanded respect.<\/p>\n

“I tried to get him back into athletics when his ban ended by getting him running kit and shoes,” Kirui explained.<\/p>\n

“Before his death we had a plan to try one more time to take him to a rehabilitation centre in Kisumu.”<\/p>\n

Bett was the fourth child among six siblings and took up athletics to follow in his sister’s footsteps.<\/p>\n

“Bett joined our training group when he was in primary school because he was inspired by Purity to run,” Japheth Kemei, Kipyegon’s coach, told BBC Sport Africa.<\/p>\n

“He was a gifted athlete who even beat [800m] world record holder David Rudisha in a race. That showed he had high potential.<\/p>\n

“I expected him to come back to athletics once his ban was over, but he couldn’t do so due to many challenges.<\/p>\n

“I think sometimes once an athlete is banned there’s some depression and getting into activities that cannot support an athletics career.”<\/p>\n

‘Impact of doping always catastrophic’<\/b><\/p>\n

Kenya has made substantial investments in its anti-doping efforts since the 2016 Rio Olympics, but over 70 of its athletes have been sanctioned over the past three years.<\/p>\n

The World Anti-Doping Agency recently raised concerns with Kenya’s sports ministry over the government’s major cut in the operational budget for the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) from the previous year, citing the potential impact on Kenyan athletes.<\/p>\n

ADAK\u2019s annual budget was reduced from 288m Kenyan shillings ($2.32m, \u00a31.71m) to 20m Kenyan shillings ($155,000, \u00a3119,000).<\/p>\n

Barnaba Korir, who is youth development director of Athletics Kenya, has warned of the effects of doping following Bett’s death.<\/p>\n

“The impact of doping is always catastrophic, especially for a young and inexperienced lad,” Korir said.<\/p>\n

“We wish those who introduce such evil machinations to young souls can understand the implications of such chemicals and the mental damage, even if they are not caught.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bett’s world under-20 title came in the Polish city of Bydgoszcz Former world under-20 athletics champion Kipyegon Bett has died aged 26 in Bomet, Kenya, following a short illness. The 800m specialist won his junior world title in 2016 and then took bronze at the senior World Championships in London the following year. However, his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":228231,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-228230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-africa"],"yoast_head":"\nFormer junior world 800m champion Bett dies aged 26 - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/10\/08\/former-junior-world-800m-champion-bett-dies-aged-26\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former junior world 800m champion Bett dies aged 26 - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bett’s world under-20 title came in the Polish city of Bydgoszcz Former world under-20 athletics champion Kipyegon Bett has died aged 26 in Bomet, Kenya, following a short illness. The 800m specialist won his junior world title in 2016 and then took bronze at the senior World Championships in London the following year. However, his […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/10\/08\/former-junior-world-800m-champion-bett-dies-aged-26\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-10-08T15:08:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/76893269.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ghana News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ghana News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/08\\\/former-junior-world-800m-champion-bett-dies-aged-26\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/08\\\/former-junior-world-800m-champion-bett-dies-aged-26\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ghana News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5\"},\"headline\":\"Former junior world 800m champion Bett dies aged 26\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-10-08T15:08:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/08\\\/former-junior-world-800m-champion-bett-dies-aged-26\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":661,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/08\\\/former-junior-world-800m-champion-bett-dies-aged-26\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/76893269.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Africa\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/08\\\/former-junior-world-800m-champion-bett-dies-aged-26\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/08\\\/former-junior-world-800m-champion-bett-dies-aged-26\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/08\\\/former-junior-world-800m-champion-bett-dies-aged-26\\\/\",\"name\":\"Former junior world 800m champion Bett dies aged 26 - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/08\\\/former-junior-world-800m-champion-bett-dies-aged-26\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/08\\\/former-junior-world-800m-champion-bett-dies-aged-26\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/76893269.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-10-08T15:08:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/08\\\/former-junior-world-800m-champion-bett-dies-aged-26\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/08\\\/former-junior-world-800m-champion-bett-dies-aged-26\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/08\\\/former-junior-world-800m-champion-bett-dies-aged-26\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/76893269.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/76893269.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":400},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/08\\\/former-junior-world-800m-champion-bett-dies-aged-26\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Former junior world 800m champion Bett dies aged 26\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"Ghana mma provides breaking news, top stories in Ghana, Africa, business, entertainment, politics and more.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5\",\"name\":\"Ghana News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ghana News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/author\\\/ghanamma\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Former junior world 800m champion Bett dies aged 26 - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/10\/08\/former-junior-world-800m-champion-bett-dies-aged-26\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Former junior world 800m champion Bett dies aged 26 - Ghanamma.com","og_description":"Bett’s world under-20 title came in the Polish city of Bydgoszcz Former world under-20 athletics champion Kipyegon Bett has died aged 26 in Bomet, Kenya, following a short illness. The 800m specialist won his junior world title in 2016 and then took bronze at the senior World Championships in London the following year. However, his […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/10\/08\/former-junior-world-800m-champion-bett-dies-aged-26\/","og_site_name":"Ghanamma.com","article_published_time":"2024-10-08T15:08:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/76893269.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ghana News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ghana News","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/10\/08\/former-junior-world-800m-champion-bett-dies-aged-26\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/10\/08\/former-junior-world-800m-champion-bett-dies-aged-26\/"},"author":{"name":"Ghana News","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/#\/schema\/person\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5"},"headline":"Former junior world 800m champion Bett dies aged 26","datePublished":"2024-10-08T15:08:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/10\/08\/former-junior-world-800m-champion-bett-dies-aged-26\/"},"wordCount":661,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/10\/08\/former-junior-world-800m-champion-bett-dies-aged-26\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/76893269.jpg","articleSection":["Africa"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/10\/08\/former-junior-world-800m-champion-bett-dies-aged-26\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/10\/08\/former-junior-world-800m-champion-bett-dies-aged-26\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/10\/08\/former-junior-world-800m-champion-bett-dies-aged-26\/","name":"Former junior world 800m champion Bett dies aged 26 - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/10\/08\/former-junior-world-800m-champion-bett-dies-aged-26\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/10\/08\/former-junior-world-800m-champion-bett-dies-aged-26\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/76893269.jpg","datePublished":"2024-10-08T15:08:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/#\/schema\/person\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/10\/08\/former-junior-world-800m-champion-bett-dies-aged-26\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/10\/08\/former-junior-world-800m-champion-bett-dies-aged-26\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/10\/08\/former-junior-world-800m-champion-bett-dies-aged-26\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/76893269.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/76893269.jpg","width":600,"height":400},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/10\/08\/former-junior-world-800m-champion-bett-dies-aged-26\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Former junior world 800m champion Bett dies aged 26"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"Ghana mma provides breaking news, top stories in Ghana, Africa, business, entertainment, politics and more.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/#\/schema\/person\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5","name":"Ghana News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ghana News"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024"],"url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/author\/ghanamma\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228230\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}