NAIROBI, Kenya — Marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum, a would-be long-distance running star, was killed along with his coach in a car accident in Kenya late Sunday.
Kiptum is 24 years old and has a world record he set last year at the Chicago Marathon that was confirmed by the international track federation World Athletics last week.
Kiptum, who is a Kenyan, and his Rwandan coach Gervais Hakizimana were killed in the crash at about 11pm.
Another Kenyan athlete, Milcah Chemos, confirmed their deaths to The Associated Press. He was at the hospital morgue where the body was taken and had seen Kiptum’s body, he said.
The crash happened on the road between the towns of Eldoret and Kaptagat in western Kenya, Chemos said, in the middle of a high-altitude area known as a training base for long-distance runners.
He said he went to the hospital with other athletes and members of Kiptum’s family after hearing the news. Family members were there to identify Kiptum’s body.
The Kenyan track federation said it was deeply saddened to announce the deaths of Kiptum and Hakizimana.
Kiptum has the world record he set last year at the Chicago Marathon confirmed by the international track federation World Athletics last week. AP
Kenyan media reported that only one car was involved in the accident and that 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 a marathon in under 2 hours, 1 minute in an official race when he set a world record of 2:00.35 in Chicago in October, beating Kenyan compatriot and marathon great Eliud Kipchoge.
He is due to compete in the Rotterdam Marathon in April, which is his first event since breaking the world record.
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World Athletics President Sebastian Coe was one of the first to express his condolences in a statement on X, previously Twitter.
“We are deeply shocked and saddened to learn of the loss of Kelvin Kiptum and his coach, Gervais Hakizimana,” Coe wrote. “On behalf of all of World Athletics, our condolences go out to their families, friends, teammates and the country of Kenya.”
“It was only earlier this week in Chicago, where Kelvin set his incredible marathon World Record, that I was able to officially confirm his historic time. An incredible athlete leaving an incredible legacy, we will miss him dearly,” Coe wrote.
David Rudisha, Kenya’s two-time Olympic champion in the 800 meters, wrote on X that he was shocked and deeply saddened by the news.
Kiptum’s victory in the Men’s race at the finish of the 2023 London Marathon in central London. AFP via Getty Images
“This is a great loss,” Rudisha wrote.
Kiptum achieved immediate success by running the fastest time ever by a first-time marathon runner at the 2022 Valencia Marathon.
The following year, he won the London and Chicago races, two of the most prestigious marathons in the world. While young and new to the circuit, he has already run three of the seven fastest marathon times ever recorded.
Kiptum is the latest of many prominent Kenyan runners to die in tragic road accidents.
David Lelei, an All-Africa Games silver medallist, died in a car accident in 2010. Marathon runner Francis Kiplagat was among five people killed in an accident 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 10,000 meters world champion Moses Tanui and Olympic silver medalist Paul Tergat all survived serious road accidents.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
