Tori Bowie was a three-time American track and field athlete who died on April 23, 2023, from complications of childbirth at her home in Florida; she was 32 years old.
Though her life has ended, she will always be remembered for her record-breaking performance on the field and track. In the course of her career which lasted many years, Bowie has earned recognition and medals including gold, silver, and bronze Olympic medals.
The 32-year-old Olympic Medalist Died of Childbirth Complications
Tori who was born Frentorish Bowie on August 27, 1990, died at the age of 32 due to childbirth complications. The news of her passing was quite shocking as she has maintained a successful career since she made her professional debut in 2013. Based on the coroner’s report, the Missisipi-born medalist was found dead in her bed on May 2 and concluded that she died while in labor. Yet, her obituary states April 23 as the day she died.
Prior, Tori’s loved ones became concerned when they did not hear from the 8-month pregnant woman and they called the police to do a welfare check on her. Upon arriving at her home, deputies from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office found her deceased.
At her death, she was the older of two siblings born to Dennis Smith and Bobbie Dennis Smith. She and her sister, Tamara Bowie were adopted and raised by their grandmother, Mrs. Bobbie Louise Smith. Also, Tori had a daughter named Ariana who had died earlier on.
Aside from this, she was not married at the time of her death neither is the status of her romantic life known.
Tori Bowie Started Participating Competitively while in High School
Throughout her career, Tori made her state and nation proud. Yet, her story started at Pisgah High School where she started competing in field events. She gained lots of attention as a junior when she won the Mississippi State high school championship in 2007. As you would find, this set a pace for the Sand Hill Rankin native as she soon clinched more recognition the following year as a state champion in both 100m, 200m, and long jump.
After she graduated from the school, she proceeded to the University of Southern Missipi where she once more gained attention representing the school’s athletics teams, the Southern Miss Golden Eagles and Lady Eagles. Though she was saddled with the responsibility of completing her psychology and social work degree at the school, this did not affect her performance as an athlete. In fact, she set many records and finished second in her last public outing for the school as she lost to Whitney Gipson.
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She Made her Professional Debut at the Age of 23
Considering the fact that she started competing at a young age, she only made her professional debut in 2013 when she was about 23 years old. Yet, her career proved that she was indeed a talented athlete. Unsurprisingly, she has participated even outside the USA. Notably, she made her first international outing at the Moscow World Championship in the same year but ended in fourth position.
Thankfully, this did not affect her as she continued to take more tournaments. In 2014 she won the 200m at the World Diamond League Race. One of the high points of her career was at the 2016 Summer Olympics where she won three medals; gold, silver, and bronze for women’s 4×100 relay, 100m, and 200m respectively. She replicated winning a gold medal at the 2017 World Athletics Championship. According to her world athletics profile, her last participation was at the Doha World Championship in 2019.
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