Damaris Muthee's coach, Gregory Kilonzo, has come out to talk about the last moments he shared with the athlete.
Kilonzo recalled that the last time they were together with the slain athlete was on April 16 after having supper with the entire camp.
Three days later, Muthee was found dead on Tuesday, April 19, after police were tipped off of her whereabouts. The coach described the incident as devastating to the team that trained with the fallen heroine of the Bahrain Marathon.
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“We broke training for the day on Saturday so that everybody could have a rest day on Sunday. We expected everybody back in training on Monday. We did not see her at breakfast.
“It was the same at lunchtime. I thought the girl was still resting or maybe she had gone to church or to the shop. In the evening, we again did not see her. I tried calling her cell phone but it did not go through. I asked her friends to do the same, so everybody called but calls did not go through,” he highlighted.
The coach noted that Damaris used to train at the Iten camp before she joined that national team camp in Kapsabet.
“She used to train at the Iten camp before joining the national team camp here in Kapsabet. It is normal for athletes to join their training camps or go home after training. We know her camp is in Iten. We were surprised that she was not there. We did not see her on Monday. We went to her house on Tuesday but only her clothes were there," the coach added.
Kilonzo noted that on Tuesday, April 19, after not finding any information on the athletes they got worried.
“On Tuesday afternoon, we got information that a female athlete had been found dead in a house in Iten. All the way from Kapsabet, she had gone to Iten and not just her house, but a man’s house. We are worried here, even training has stopped. Everybody is worried, nobody has got the strength to go to training at this moment."
"It’s very sad for you to be with someone enjoying training, even at the end of the day, do an analysis of how the day went, and then the next day the person is nowhere to be seen. Two days later you find out she is dead,” he stated.
The coach also noted that many athletes from Bahrain have pitched training in Kapsabet in preparations for the World Championships and the Diamond League.
“We have about six athletes here. They include Ruth Jebet (2016 Olympics 3000 metres steeplechase gold medalist), Rose Chelimo (2017 World marathon champion) and Violah Jepchumba among others. Some stay at their homes and come here to train. Damaris had trained with us on Saturday. We don’t know what made her go to Iten,” Kilonzo noted.
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