Two arrested in stabbing death of Olympian Benjamin Kiplagat

NAIROBI, Kenya — Two men have been arrested in connection with the murder of Ugandan Olympic runner Benjamin Kiplagat, who was found fatally stabbed in a car in Kenya on New Year's Eve, police said Monday.

A knife believed to have been used in Kiplagat's killing was found on one of the suspects, Moiben subcounty police commander Stephen Okal said. Kiplagat was 34 years old. The motive for the killing appeared to have been theft, he said, as money and a cell phone had been confiscated from Kiplagat.

Kiplagat's throat was slit, police said. He was found dead in his brother's car early Sunday on the outskirts of Eldoret, a high-altitude town in western Kenya known as a training base for elite athletes.

Kiplagat competed in three Olympic Games and six world championships in the 3,000 meter steeplechase. He won a bronze medal at the 2012 African Championships.

Kiplagat is the fourth athlete killed in the region in recent years.

Agnès Tirop, a two-time world cross-country champion, was fatally stabbed at her home in the nearby town of Iten in 2021. Her husband is on trial for murder.

The decomposing body of Kenyan-born Bahraini runner Damaris Muthee was found in the house of an Ethiopian athlete in 2022. The athlete is the main suspect in his death but has not been apprehended.

Rwandan runner Rubayita Siragi was killed in August in what police say was a fight with another athlete over a woman.