The career of the only man to have completed the endurance classic in less than two hours and one minute was cut short on Sunday when Kenya’s world record holder for marathons, Kelvin Kiptum, and his coach died in a traffic accident in the Rift Valley.
With a time of two hours and thirty-five seconds, the 24-year-old made the world record at the Chicago Marathon in October, surpassing the mark of 2:01:09 set by fellow countryman Eliud Kipchoge in Berlin in 2022.
Kiptum, who set three of the seven fastest marathon records in history, had hoped to make his Olympic debut in Paris in July and become the first man to finish the marathon in under two hours under race conditions in Rotterdam.
“We are shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the devastating loss of Kelvin Kiptum and his coach, Gervais Hakizimana. On behalf of all World Athletics, we send our deepest condolences to their families, friends, team mates and the Kenyan nation. An incredible athlete leaving an incredible legacy, we will miss him dearly,” World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said in a statement.
Kiptum was driving his Rwandan coach and a woman in a car when the accident happened, according to the police report, not far from the Rift Valley village where he was born. After losing control of the car, the athlete swerved off the road into a ditch and travelled about 60 metres before colliding with a big tree.
While the woman, Sharon Chepkurui Kosgei Keiyo, 24, survived with severe injuries and was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, Kiptum and Hakizimana lost their lives at the scene.
Senior Kenyan politicians and fellow athletes showered tributes upon her. “His mental strength and discipline were unmatched. Kiptum was our future,” Kenya’s President William Ruto said on social media platform X.
