WORLD MARATHON RECORD HOLDER KELVIN KIPTUM, 24, DIES IN A CAR ACCIDENT

During the Chicago Marathon in 2023, the Kenyan athlete who set a world record of 2:00:35 passed away on Sunday, February 11, along with his coach. Tributes are flooding in from all across the world following the devastating news that shocked the athletics community.

Kelvin Kiptum, the world record holder for the men's marathon, passed away on Sunday, February 11, in a terrible car accident in Kenya.                   

The debris of the car that killed Kenyan marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum and his coach in a traffic collision close to Eldoret, Kenya, on February 12 in the Rift Valley. Image Courtesy

Commander Peter Mulinge of Elgeyo Marakwet County Police said that the 24-year-old was killed on the Eldoret-Kaptagat route beside his coach, Gervais Hakizimana.

"This was a self-involved accident where one Kelvin Kiptum, the world marathon record holder, was driving his vehicle with two passengers," the County Commander stated to the Nation Newspaper. Kiptum also lost control of the vehicle and went off the road.

 "Kiptum and Hakizimana died on the spot and the third person was rushed to Racecourse Hospital in Eldoret."

Joan Chelimo, Hakizimana's wife, informed Olympics.com that her husband had passed away.

Among those leading homage to Kiptum and his coach Hakizimana was IOC President Thomas Bach.

"It is with extreme sadness that I learned of the tragic passing of world marathon record-holder Kelvin Kiptum from Kenya in a car accident," Bach stated. "We were excited to have him join the Olympic community at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and see what the world's fastest marathon runner could accomplish." Our sympathies go out to his friends and family, as well as to Gervais Hazimana, his coach, who also perished in the collision."

On October 8, 2023, in Chicago, Kiptum broke the men's marathon record with a time of two hours and thirty-five seconds. On April 14, he was supposed to race in the Rotterdam Marathon.

The Kenyan became the first man to complete the marathon in under two hours and one minute by cutting 34 seconds off the previous world record set by two-time Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge in Berlin in 2022.

Just last week, World Athletics confirmed his world record.

Asenath Rotich, Kiptum's spouse, and their two kids are still living.

The Nation was informed by Kenneth Kimaiyo, one of the first witnesses to the accident scene, that he discovered Kiptum's body beneath his car while his coach lay on the slope, still breathing.

"Despite our best efforts, the coach passed away right away. With his seat belt torn and already deceased, Kiptum was found lying beneath the vehicle."