Kelvin Kiptum, marathon world record holder, dies in road accident | Relief

Kelvin Kiptum, world marathon record holder, died this Sunday in a traffic accident in Eldoret (Kenya), where his coach, Rwandan Garwise Hakizimana, also died. The great track sensation of 2023 when he broke Eliud Kipchoge’s all-time record at the last Chicago Marathon with a time of 2:00:35. The fateful event occurred around 11:00 pm (Kenya time), according to police chief Peter Mulinge, when the Toyota Premio the athlete was driving ran off the road, collided with a large tree and fell over a 60-metre cliff.

According to the country’s media, the event occurred on the Eldoret-Kaptagat highway, where The athlete was preparing to break his own record and become the first person to run under two hours at the next Rotterdam Marathon. next one is April 14th. Focus and goal, which his representative Marc Corstjens confirmed to Relevo just a few days ago: “Kelvin is now on a full and intensive training program, he is focused on his goals for the next competition and training to achieve them.” A woman who was also traveling in the car was taken to a nearby hospital with serious injuries.

The Kenyan was just 24 years old when he took the world by storm and became one of the sport’s biggest stars after his two participations only at an altitude of 42,195 meters last year: winning the London Marathon with a time of 2:01:25, which is already close to the world record, and his victory in Chicago breaking all records first person under 2:01:00. A sign for history, confirmed by World Athletics last Tuesday. Kiptum has also been called up to the Kenyan squad for the upcoming 2024 Olympics in Paris.

This news affected the entire international sport, including in Spain, where the first reaction to the news has already occurred. “We are alarmed,” former Spanish athlete Juan Carlos Higuero wrote on social media, while marathon runner Iago Rojo noted that “I have no words to describe this terrible news.”