Track star Tori Bowie, a three-time Olympic medalist and two-time World Champion, died from complications of child birth last month at age 32. She was about 8 months pregnant and in labor at the time of her death, according to an autopsy report obtained this week by USA TODAY Sports.

Bowie’s management company, Icon Management Inc., confirmed her death on May 3, 2023: “We’re devastated to share the very sad news that Tori Bowie has passed away. We’ve lost a client, dear friend, daughter and sister. Tori was a champion…a beacon of light that shined so bright! We’re truly heartbroken and our prayers are with the family and friends.”

Her obituary mentions he was preceded in death by her daughter, Ariana Bowie.

In May, Orange County, Fla. sheriff’s deputies found Bowie dead in her Florida home. They were conducting a wellness check after receiving reports she had not been seen or heard from in several days. The autopsy report listed possible childbirth complications including respiratory distress and eclampsia, a rare but dangerous condition that can occur late in pregnancy where sudden high blood pressure causes seizures and eventually a coma.

Her manner of death was ruled natural, with no signs of foul play.

Black maternal health crisis

Preeclampsia, a life-threatening condition that can turn into eclampsia, is one of the leading causes of maternal death in the United States. It’s disproportionally prevalent among Black birthing people; the preeclampsia rate for Black women is 60% higher than for white women, according to the Preeclampsia Foundation.

It’s part of a larger gulf between pregnancy outcomes for Black women and white women in the United States. Black women have the highest maternal mortality rate in the country. They’re about three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women.

“The U.S. is the only industrialized nation with a maternal mortality rate that is on the rise, with unacceptably high rates among Black and indigenous birthing people,” said Dr. Tamika Auguste, an OBGYN and a member of the board of directors at the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, during her testimony before Congress in a 2021 hearing on Black maternal health.

Studies have found that disparities in maternal death rates between white and Black women persist even when factors like education and income are accounted for, according to KFF, a health policy research foundation.

“Systemic and institutional racism are pervasive in our country and in our country’s healthcare institutions,” Auguste said, calling for increased funding for programs and policies that improve access to health care, and access to respectful and culturally congruent care for birthing people of color.

“We must address social determinants of health and we must ensure that all pregnant, birthing and postpartum people have access to the care they need,” she said.

“In the most highly resourced country in the world, people should not be dying from what should be the happiest times of their lives.”

Bowie’s Olympic teammate Allyson Felix, the most decorated female track star in American history, developed severe pre-eclampsia during her pregnancy in 2018, leading to the premature birth of her daughter via an emergency c-section. Felix, who is Black, testified before Congress the following year during a hearing on the rising U.S. maternal mortality rate:

“We need to provide women of color with more support during their pregnancies,” she said. “Research shows that racial bias in our maternal health care system includes things like providers spending less time with Black mothers, underestimating the pain of the Black patients, ignoring symptoms and dismissing complaints.”

‘Fastest woman in the world’

Frentorish ‘Tori’ Bowie grew up in Sandhill, Miss. and attended the University of Southern Mississippi on an athletic scholarship.

While in college, she won national titles in indoor and outdoor long jump. After winning three medals at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, including anchoring the gold medal-winning team in the 4×100 meter relay, she went on to win the 100m at the 2017 World Championships, earning her the title of the fastest woman in the world. In 2019 she placed 4th in the long jump at the World Championships.

According to her obituary, at the time of her death she was studying music at Full Sail University in Florida.

During her funeral in May, her friend Antoine Preudhomme said Bowie and her sister, who had both spent time in the foster system as children, often visited foster homes across Florida and Mississippi, reported The New York Times. While there, they would deliver Christmas gifts to the children, throw parties for them and join them in foot races.