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Scottsdale - The United States track and field community paid tribute to California-based athlete David Torrence on Tuesday after the Olympic middle-distance runner was found dead in Arizona.
Torrence, 31, who represented Peru in last year's Olympics, was discovered at the bottom of an apartment block's swimming pool in Scottsdale early on Monday, local media reported. A cause of death was being investigated.
"The track world lost a great friend and athlete today," USA Track and Field wrote on Twitter.
"Today we lost an amazing athlete and an even greater friend," Kyle Merber, a friend of Torrence and fellow elite runner added.
Torrence was born in Okinawa, Japan, and was raised in the United States. He represented the US for years but last year was cleared to compete for Peru, on the basis of having a Peruvian mother.
Torrence finished in 15th and last place in the final of the 5 000m in Rio last year, around 40 seconds behind British winner Mo Farah.
He was involved in the investigation into Somalian coach Jama Aden, who was arrested by Spanish police last year as part of a probe into doping.
Torrence later revealed he had supplied information to authorities following an earlier training stint with Aden, who has coached an array of runners including Ethiopia's Genzebe Dibaba.
