Former 400m World Champion hurdler Nicholas Bett dies in Car Accident aged 28

Former 400m hurdles champion from Kenya, Nicholas Bett has been killed in a car accident at the age of 28 in his home country. Bett met the crash early morning in high-altitude training region near Nandi County in West Kenya.

Bett was driving his Toyota Prado SUV which hit the lump on the road and somersaulted, the police said.  His family also confirmed the news. Athletics Kenya sent condolences to his family releasing a statement that read:

"We regret to learn of the sudden demise of one of our top athletes, the 2015 400m Hurdles World Champion #NicholasKiplagatBett who represented Kenya in the just concluded Africa Championships.

Our condolences to his family and the entire athletics fraternity."

Bett won the  400m hurdles at the World Championships in Beijing in 2015 and became the first Kenyan to win the gold medal in a distance shorter than 800m. Previously, he won the bronze medals in 2014 in the 400 hurdles and 4x400m relay at the African championships.

Prior, he also competed in the Commonwealth Games in 2014 and 2018 and was one of the favorites at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Brett's twin brother, Aron Koech is also a hurdler who won the 4 × 400 m hurdles with his team at the African Championships recently in 2018.