Former 400M hurdles world champion Nicholas Bett died on Wednesday morning in a road crash in Nandi, his family and Nandi Police Commander Patrick Wambani have confirmed.
Mr Bett died on the spot after the car he was driving veered off the road and landed in a ditch near Lessos along Eldoret-Kapsabet road on Wednesday morning.
He was born on 27 January, 1990. His first outing at national level was in 2010, when he was a Kenyan junior finalist. He made his breakthrough nationally at senior level with a run of 50.39 seconds to place third at the Kenyan Athletics Championships in 2011.
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He missed most of the 2012 season but returned in 2013 with runner-up finishes at both the national championships and world trials. A new best of 49.70 seconds at the latter meet placed him near the top fifty globally for the season.
Sports CS Rashid Echesa has mourned the passing on of the world hero who had just returned from the African Championships in Nigeria, and was on his way home.
"On behalf of the sporting fraternity and Ministry of Sports Kenya, I convey my sincerest condolences to his family .Rest in peace," the CS said in a Tweet.