The Kenyan sporting community has been thrown into mourning following the death of veteran cross country athlete Hosea Mwok Macharinyang, under unclear circumstances.
Macharinyang’s lifeless body of Hosea Mwok Macharinyang was found dangling by a rope, in a store at the family home in Murkwijit village, West Pokot County.
Confirming the incident, West Pokot Sub County Commissioner Kennedy Lunalo said family members found the body of the veteran hanging by a rope inside a store used for keeping livestock feeds on Saturday.
“The area assistant chief and the officer in charge of Murkwijit Police Post arrived at the scene and confirmed the incident. No suicide note was found with him,” Lunalo said.
Family members and neighbours were in shock following the discovery of the body which was dangling from a rope tied to the neck.
Macharinyang specialised in the 10,000 meters races, and cross country running. He represented Kenya in five editions of the World Cross Country Championships, winning the team title with Kenya three times from 2006 to 2008.
He is suspected to have been suffering from mental illness for some time. Two mobile phones were recovered from the pockets of the athletes, who had spent the whole day herding cattle in the fields.
Lunalo said the body has been moved to the mortuary at Kapenguria County Referral Hospital awaiting post-mortem. Lunalo said that investigations are ongoing to determine the cause of the death.
Athletics Kenya (AK) North Rift public relations officer, Boniface Tiren, said the county has lost one of its most talented sportspersons who had a bright future ahead of him.
“It is a sad affair, losing such a young person in such a bad way. He was a young man that the country and locals could look upon in terms of athletics career,” Tiren said.
He added: “As a region, we have lost a young and intelligent man who could steer his county, that is coming up in sports to a greater height.”