Kenyan police have launched a manhunt after the body of a female athlete was found with stab wounds in the town of Iten, famous for its centre for long-distance runners.

Police say they are looking for the Ethiopian boyfriend of Damaris Muthee Mutua, 28, who was born in Kenya but competed for Bahrain.

She is the second female athlete to be killed in Iten in a year.

Last year, Kenyans were shocked by the killing of Olympic runner Agnes Tirop.

Her husband remains in custody and denies murder.

Police say Mutua's body was found in "a state of decomposition" in the Rift Valley town of Iten, local police chief Tom Makori told the AFP news agency.

Mutua's boyfriend was training at the same high-altitude centre as her and may have left the country, police say.

"The suspect called a friend whom they were training together and informed him that he has killed a girlfriend and the body was in the house," Mr Makori told the Reuters news agency.

Mutua competed for Kenya as a junior athlete but later switched to run for Bahrain.

The Ethiopian Athletics Federation has sent its condolences to Mutua's family and friends and described her as a "heroine athlete". For its part, Athletics Kenya paid their condolences to her family and lamented Damaris Muthee Mutua's talent. (BBC)

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