Tori Bowie’s agent revealed that she was in labour when she died of complications from giving birth. Bowie won three medals at the Olympics, including a gold in 2016. He was 32 when he was found dead last month.
The agent, Kimberly Holland, told CBS News that the information from the Orange County Medical Examiner Office in Florida was correct.
According to the report, which came from USA Today, Bowie had been pregnant for about eight months and had a “well-developed fetus.” The office of the medical examiner said that Bowie may have had problems like trouble breathing and eclampsia.
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The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development says that eclampsia is a serious disease caused by high blood pressure that can lead to seizures or a coma in pregnant women.
“Unfortunately, so many people, including the media, are making speculations that she did something to herself, which is very hurtful,” Holland told CBS News earlier in the day. Holland could not be reached for comment on Monday evening. “So hopefully, now knowing the truth, there will be many apologies.”
After not seeing or hearing from Bowie for a few days, deputies from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office went to her home in Winter Garden, Fla., on May 2 to check on her. They found her dead, with “no signs of foul play.”
USA Track & Field said last month that it was “deeply saddened” to hear about Bowie’s death and that her “impact on the sport is immeasurable, and she will be greatly missed.”
Bowie was born in Mississippi and raised by her grandma. At Southern Mississippi, she won the NCAA long jump title. At the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, she won three medals: gold in the 4×100-meter relay, where she ran the lead leg, silver in the 100-meter individual race, and bronze in the 200-meter race.
In 2017, at the world championships in London, Bowie won gold in the 100 meters and the 4×100 relay. In 2019, at the USATF outdoor championships, she came in fourth in the long jump. This was her last major race.
A Mississippi funeral home wrote in Bowie’s tribute that she was working toward a degree in social work at the time of her death. The death notice said that her daughter Ariana was one of the family members who had di*d before her.
BBC News Twitter Post Tells that Three-time Olympic medallist Tori Bowie died from complications in childbirth, agent says:
Three-time Olympic medallist Tori Bowie died from complications in childbirth, agent says https://t.co/jHOGjaO2yN
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) June 13, 2023
“We’ve lost a client, dear friend, daughter and sister,” Bowie’s management agency, Icon, said on social media after her death. “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.”
Monday’s news about how Bowie di*d made some people think about the high rate of maternal deαth among Black women in the United States. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention say that they are three times more likely than White women to di* from something connected to their pregnancy.
