(NEXSTAR) – Tori Bowie, a U.S. Olympic sprinter, died of complications from childbirth, Florida officials have confirmed.
Bowie, who won three medals during the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, died in May. She was 32.
Citing a coroner’s report, TMZ says the runner was found dead in her Florida home on May 2. Her family had reportedly been concerned after not speaking with Bowie for several days.
Bowie’s management company and USA Track and Field confirmed her death the next day.
According to the autopsy results from the Orange County Medical Examiner’s Office, Bowie died of complications from childbirth, USA Today and TMZ report. The Olympian was estimated to be eight months pregnant and had been experiencing labor when she died.
Bowie may have suffered respiratory distress or eclampsia, seizures that can occur after a sudden spike in high blood pressure during pregnancy, officials reported wrote. Her death was ruled as natural.
The Orange County Medical Examiner’s Office didn’t immediately respond to Nexstar’s request for information.
Growing up in Sandhill, Mississippi, Bowie was coaxed into track as a teenager and quickly rose up the ranks as a sprinter and long jumper. She attended Southern Mississippi, where she swept the long jump NCAA championships at the indoor and outdoor events in 2011.
Bowie turned in an electric performance at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where she won silver in the 100 and bronze in the 200. She then ran the anchor leg on a 4×100 team with Tianna Bartoletta, Allyson Felix and English Gardner to take gold.
A year later, she won the 100 meters at the 2017 world championships in London.
Bowie was taken in by her grandmother as an infant after she was left at a foster home. She considered herself a basketball player and only reluctantly showed up for track, but Bowie was a fast learner, becoming a state champion in the 100, 200 and long jump before going to college.
Her first major international medal was a 100-meter bronze at worlds in 2015. After winning, she said, “my entire life my grandmother told me I could do whatever I set my mind to.”
In a May post on Twitter, Icon Management included a picture of Bowie holding up her hands in the shape of a heart. The management company wrote: “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.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.