Kenya’s world marathon record-holder Kelvin Kiptum has died in a road accident alongside his coach on Eldoret-Kaptagat road in Kenya last night.
The 24-year-old Kiptum, who was driving a Toyota Premio, and his 36-year-old Rwandan coach Gervais Hakizimana died on the spot while a third occupant survived with serious injuries, police said.
Kiptum’s world record time of 2:00:35 in the Chicago Marathon last year was recently approved by World Athletics. He transitioned to marathon running just a year before achieving this record-breaking pace.
He lowered his personal best by 50 seconds to surpass the 2:01:09 record set by Eliud Kipchoge, another esteemed Kenyan runner known as one of the world’s greatest marathoners.
Kiptum had been tipped as the potential heir to Kipchoge’s legacy, with hopes of breaking the 2-hour marathon barrier.
Hakizimana was a former professional athlete from Rwanda who competed in various races ranging from the 5,000 metres to the half marathon.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said Kiptum was “an incredible athlete leaving an incredible legacy, we will miss him dearly.”
Former multiple world record holder from Ethiopia, Haile Gebrselassie described late Kelvin Kiptum as “one of my favourite young athletes”.
“I started my day with this heart wrenching news of Kelvin’s tragic passing. I have been following his running and success for a while and I was sure he was destined for greatness,” he added.