NAIROBI, Kenya – Kelvin Kiptum, the marathon world record holder who would become a long-distance running superstar, died along with his coach in a car accident in Kenya on Sunday night.
Kiptum was 24 years old and the world record he set last year at the Chicago Marathon was ratified by the international athletics federation World Athletics last week.
Kiptum, of Kenyan origin, and his Rwandan coach, Gervais Hakizimana, died in the accident at around 11pm.
Another Kenyan athlete, Milcah Chemos, confirmed his death to The Associated Press. She was at the hospital morgue where the bodies were taken and she had seen Kiptum’s body, he said.
The accident occurred on a highway between the towns of Eldoret and Kaptagat in western Kenya, Chemos said, in the heart of the high-altitude region that is recognized as a training base for distance runners.
He said he went to the hospital with other athletes and members of Kiptum’s family after hearing the news. Relatives were there to identify Kiptum’s body.
The Kenya Athletics Federation said it was deeply sorry to announce the deaths of Kiptum and Hakizimana.
Kiptum had the world record he set last year at the Chicago Marathon ratified by the international athletics federation World Athletics last week. AP
Kenyan media reported that only one car was involved in the accident and a third person, a woman, was also in the vehicle and was taken to the same hospital with serious injuries.
Kiptum was the first man to run the marathon in under 2 hours and 1 minute in an official race when he set the world record of 2:00.35 in Chicago in October, surpassing the mark of fellow Kenyan and marathon great Eliud Kipchoge.
He was due to compete in the Rotterdam marathon in April, which would have been his first event since breaking the world record.
Stay up to date with today’s most important news
Stay up to date on the latest with Evening Update.
Thanks for registering!
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe was one of the first to offer his condolences in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.
“We are shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the devastating loss of Kelvin Kiptum and his coach, Gervais Hakizimana,” Coe wrote. “On behalf of all of World Athletics we send our deepest condolences to their families, friends, teammates and the nation of Kenya.”
“It wasn’t until earlier this week in Chicago, the place where Kelvin set his extraordinary marathon world record, that I was able to officially ratify his historic time. An incredible athlete who leaves an incredible legacy, he will be greatly missed,” Coe wrote.
David Rudisha, Kenya’s two-time Olympic champion in the 800 metres, wrote in X that he was shocked and deeply saddened by the news.
Kiptum’s victory in the men’s race at the end of the 2023 London Marathon in central London. AFP via Getty Images
“This is a great loss,” Rudisha wrote.
Kiptum found immediate success by running the fastest time ever achieved by a marathon debutant at the 2022 Valencia Marathon.
The following year he won the London and Chicago races, two of the most prestigious marathons in the world. Being young and new to the circuit, he had already run three of the seven fastest marathon times ever recorded.
Kiptum was the latest of numerous top-level Kenyan runners to die in tragic road accidents.
David Lelei, an African Games silver medalist, died in a car accident in 2010. Marathon runner Francis Kiplagat was among five people who died in a crash in 2018.
Nicholas Bett, who won gold in the 400 meters at the 2015 world championships, also died in a car accident in 2018.
Rudisha, former world 10,000 meters champion Moses Tanui and Olympic silver medalist Paul Tergat have all survived serious road accidents.
Categories: Trending
Source: vtt.edu.vn