Nicholas Bett, former world 400m hurdles champion, dies

Former World 400m hurdles champion Nicholas Bett has died in a road accident in Nandi.

Nandi County Police Commander Patrick Wambani confirmed the incident that took place on Wednesday morning.

Bett was the first Kenyan athlete to win a world title in sprints clocking 47.79 seconds during his stint at the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Beijing China in 2015.

He also broke the previous world record that stood at 48.24 seconds at the time.

Born in January 27, 1990, Nicholas Bett was the second born in a family of three.

According to the IAAF website, he comes from an athletic family with his father having introduced him to the sport an an early age.

“My dad used to make hurdles for us when we were young using sticks. After coming back from herding cows, he would make us jump them in competition amongst ourselves,” a story on the website reads.

His twin brother Haron Koech is also in the Kenyan Olympics team. Nicholas Bett leaves behind his wife Gladys and three children.