Tragedy of US Olympic gold medallist Tori Bowie who weighed just 96lbs at eight months pregnant when she died at home in bed
Olympic star Tori Bowie’s weight dropped below 100 pounds despite being eight months pregnant as loved ones tried to convince her to ‘eat for two’ before her tragic death last month, a friend has revealed.
Bowie, 32, was found dead in her Florida home on May 2 due to complications from childbirth, with an autopsy finding she was ‘undergoing labor’ when she died, according to TMZ.
The gold medalist’s agent and longtime friend Kimberly Holland has revealed how the star’s health had been rapidly deteriorating before her tragic death.
Holland told NBC News she had been lecturing Bowie about ‘eating for two’ as she watched her struggle with her weight, but the track star pushed her away.
‘I started to come off, I think, a little preachy, because she started to shut me down and she was like, ‘Miss Kim, the baby is fine.’ So that was my cue to leave it alone,’ she said.
At the height of her career, Bowie struck gold at the 2016 Olympic Games, and was renowned as the fastest woman in the world.
But those that knew her have since revealed a history of unsettling behavior, with one neighbor telling DailyMail.com her life was ‘erratic and unhealthy’.
Holland said her attempts to steer Bowie back on track through her pregnancy were in vain, but said her friends and family never suspected her life was at risk.
‘As an adult, you make your own decisions,’ she said, admitting that Bowie had never been a ‘really big eater’.
‘We probably would have handled everything differently to make sure everything was done properly.’
Despite her autopsy listing bipolar disorder on her medical history, Holland said the sprinter was in good spirits during their last conversation.
‘(She was) just so happy,’ she said, adding that Bowie had already bought baby clothes and was ‘looking forward to this new chapter in her life’.
‘I thought that conversation, overall, was a conversation of new beginnings,’ continued Holland, who managed Bowie’s career but insisted their relationship was ‘more than an athlete-manager relationship.’
‘She was like, you know, my daughter,’ she added.
Holland conceded that she had concerns about Bowie’s pregnancy, and when she asked whether she was going to her prenatal appointments, Bowie brushed her off and insisted she didn’t intend to have her baby in a hospital.
The agent tried to convince Bowie to stay in her Atlanta home to help her through the final stages of her pregnancy and ensure she was cared for.
Bowie rejected the offer, and an autopsy report concluded that the athlete weighed just 96 pounds when she died despite being eight months pregnant.
The autopsy report noted that there were no signs of foul play or drugs, and listed possible complications contributing to her death as respiratory distress and eclampsia – a rare pregnancy condition that can cause seizures and comas.
Friends and neighbors have recalled a series of bizarre incidents from Bowie’s past, including one local who said the sprinter once clutched a knife and screamed at her boyfriend in the street.
The celebrated track star is also said to have pelted eggs at the house opposite in the Orlando suburb of Winter Garden.