ESPN: Cause of death released for Tori Bowie, Olympic medalist, Mississippi-native

United States' Tori Bowie gestures after receiving the gold medal she won in the women's 100m...
United States' Tori Bowie gestures after receiving the gold medal she won in the women's 100m final during the World Athletics Championships in London, Monday, Aug. 7, 2017. Tori Bowie, the sprinter who won three Olympic medals at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, has died, her management company and USA Track and Field said Wednesday, May 3, 2023. Bowie was 32. She was found Tuesday, May 2, 2023, in her Florida home. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)(Alastair Grant | AP)
Published: Jun. 12, 2023 at 7:58 PM CDT
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - U.S. Olympic champion sprinter Tori Bowie died from complications of childbirth, ESPN reports.

Bowie, a former 100-meter world champion and three-time Olympic medalist, was found dead in her Florida home on May 2 after authorities were asked to perform a welfare check. She was 32.

According to the autopsy report from the Orange County (Florida) Medical Examiner’s Office, Bowie was estimated to be eight months pregnant and in active labor at the time of her death.

Medical officials said possible complications Bowie had included respiratory distress and eclampsia, USA Today Sports reported, citing the autopsy.

Bowie won all three of her Olympic medals at the 2016 Rio Games, taking silver in the 100 meters, bronze in the 200 and running the anchor leg on a 4x100 team with Tianna Bartoletta, Allyson Felix and English Gardner to take gold.

After finishing second in the 100 meters in Rio, Bowie won the race at the world championships in London a year later.

According to NBC Sports, Bowie was raised by her grandmother in Sand Hill, Mississippi.

Bowie remains the lone American woman to win an Olympic or world 100m title since Carmelita Jeter in 2011.

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