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Sport stars Allyson Felix and Tianna Madison speak out after childbirth death of teammate Tori Bowie

Published July 18, 2023 at 9:20 AM EDT
Tori Bowie of the United States poses with the gold medal for the Women's 100 metres during day four of the 16th IAAF World Athletics Championships London 2017 at The London Stadium on Aug. 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. (Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)
Tori Bowie of the United States poses with the gold medal for the Women's 100 metres during day four of the 16th IAAF World Athletics Championships London 2017 at The London Stadium on Aug. 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. (Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

In May, Olympic gold medalist and world-champion American sprinter Tori Bowie was found dead in her Florida home at the age of 32. An autopsy last month found the the cause of death was complications related to childbirth. Bowie was 8 months pregnant.

Two of Tori Bowie’s former teammates and friends — Allyson Felix and Tianna Madison — had near-death experiences during their own pregnancies. Following her death, they have shared their traumatic experiences and the wider crisis in black maternal health. Currently, the death rate for Black women during pregnancy is nearly 3x higher than it is for white women.

Felix and Madison sit down for their first joint interview following Bowie’s death with Celeste Headlee.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.