Marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum is dead.
According to Police, Kiptum and his Rwandese coach Garvais Hakizimana died on the spot Sunday night in an accident along the Eldoret-Kaptagat Road.
This comes just less than a week after World Athletics ratified his marathon world record.
“The accident happened around 11 pm. The car had three occupants, two died on the spot while one was taken to hospital,” Elgeyo Marakwet County Commandant Peter Mulinge said.
He said Kiptum was driving the vehicle heading to Eldoret when the accident occurred. The third occupant was rushed to hospital with serious injuries.
Kiptum became the first man to ever run a marathon in under 2:01 as he ran 2:00:35 in winning the Chicago Marathon last October.
He had also been named in Kenya’s team for the Olympic Games in Paris next year and was set to team up with his world record predecessor Eliud Kipchoge.
Kiptum was preparing to compete at this year’s Rotterdam Marathon, scheduled for April, which he hoped to use as a preparatory platform for the Olympics later in the year.
The 24-year-old burst into the scene at the Valencia Marathon, where he ran the fastest ever debut over the distance in 2022, clocking 2:01:53, becoming only the third man in history to break two hours and two minutes and setting the then fourth-quickest time in history.
He then competed in his second major at the 2023 London Marathon, where he clinched victory 2:01:25, missing out on Kipchoge’s then-world record by a mere 16 seconds.
This article was first published by Capital News.
