Former USM star, Olympian Tori Bowie died from childbirth complications, report says

An autopsy report for late Olympic gold medalist Tori Bowie has provided more insight into her unexpected death.

The track and field athlete from the University of Southern Mississippi, who took home three Olympic medals during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, is said to have died from complications of childbirth. She was 32.

Bowie was a native of Sand Hill and won an indoor and outdoor NCAA long jump championship at USM before competing in the 2016 Rio Olympics. Bowie took home three medals, the gold in the 4x100m relay, silver in the 100 meters and bronze in the 200 meters.

USA TODAY Sports obtained a copy of the report from the Orange County Medical Examiner Office in Florida, which confirmed that Bowie was estimated to be eight-months pregnant, as she had a “well developed fetus.”

Per the outlet, the report claims Bowie was undergoing labor at the time of her passing earlier this year.

Respiratory distress and eclampsia-which the Cleveland Clinic describes as “a rare but serious complication of preeclampsia”-were listed as possible complications. The Cleveland Clinic also noted, “Eclampsia is when a person with preeclampsia develops seizures (convulsions) during pregnancy.”

According to USA TODAY Sports, the medical examiner ruled the death as natural.

This update comes over a month after Bowie was found dead in her home in Winter Garden, Florida.

Icon Management Inc, the sports agency that represented Bowie, expressed in a Twitter statement at the time, “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.”

Fellow Olympian Brittney Reese also shared on Twitter, “I’m so heartbroken over this...You have made a lot of us proud thank you for representing our state of Mississippi like you did ... RIP!”