Kiptum, who exploded onto the marathon scene in October, was the overwhelming favorite to win the Paris Olympics.
Kelvin Kiptum, Kenya’s world record-holding marathon runner, has died in a automotive crash.
The dying of the 24-year-old, who was driving in western Kenya on Sunday night when his automotive rolled over, has left the world of athletics in shock.
Kiptum misplaced management of the car, and the younger working sensation and his Rwandan coach, Gervais Hakizimana, had been killed on the spot, a neighborhood police officer mentioned. A feminine passenger who sustained accidents was rushed to the hospital.
Kiptum exploded onto the marathon scene when he ran a world report 2:00:35 in Chicago in October, taking 34 seconds off fellow Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge’s earlier report.
He was simply 23 years previous on the time, and competing in solely his third marathon. Kiptum additionally received his different two races: his debut in Valencia in 2022 and a follow-up in London the next yr.
The Kenyan had introduced he would try to change into the primary man to run an official marathon below the two-hour mark in Rotterdam on April 14.
Kiptum was the overwhelming favorite to take the gold on the upcoming Summer time Olympics in Paris.
Tributes
Tributes poured in following the information of Kiptum’s dying.
World Athletics remembered him as “one of the most exciting new prospects to emerge in road running in recent years”.
“We are shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the devastating loss of Kelvin Kiptum and his coach, Gervais Hakizimana,” World Athletics President Sebastian Coe mentioned in an announcement.
“On behalf of all World Athletics, we send our deepest condolences to their families, friends, teammates and the Kenyan nation.”
We’re shocked and deeply saddened to be taught of the devastating lack of Kelvin Kiptum and his coach, Gervais Hakizimana.
On behalf of all World Athletics we ship our deepest condolences to their households, buddies, teammates and the Kenyan nation.
It was solely earlier this week in… pic.twitter.com/dDBKgjXNKL
— Seb Coe (@sebcoe) February 11, 2024
Coe mentioned solely final week he had been in Chicago “to officially ratify” Kiptum’s report.
“An incredible athlete leaving an incredible legacy, we will miss him dearly.”
Kenyan two-time Olympic 800m champion David Rudisha mentioned he was “shocked and deeply saddened” by the information.
“This is a huge loss,” he posted on social media platform X.
Australia’s former world champion marathon runner Robert de Castella additionally paid tribute to the athlete.
“Shocking tragedy! Just like that, a rising superstar is gone. Highlights how precious life is, and how vulnerable we all are,” de Castella mentioned.
Kiptum hailed from Chepkorio, a village within the Rift Valley that’s the heartland of Kenyan distance working, and the place in the end his dying occurred.
Ten years in the past, barely a teen, he herded goats and sheep after which started following Hakizimana, who’s from Rwanda, and different runners as they skilled within the legendary high-altitude area.
By 2019, Kiptum ran two half-marathons in two weeks, going 60:48 in Copenhagen and 59:53 in Belfort, France. He started coaching with Hakizimana, who stayed in Kenya when the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
Kiptum’s dying is the newest in a saga of tragedies to hit Kenya’s younger athletics hopefuls.
In 2011, marathon nice Samuel Wanjiru died on the similar age after capturing the Olympic title in 2008 in Beijing.
In accordance with a pathologist, Wanjiru was killed from being hit on the pinnacle with a blunt object.
In 2021, long-distance working star Agnes Tirop was discovered stabbed to dying on the age of 25 at her home in Iten, close to Eldoret.
Her husband Ibrahim Rotich went on trial for her homicide in November final yr. He has denied the cost and was freed on bail simply earlier than the trial opened.
