The 24-year-old athlete, eagerly awaited at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, lost his life at the same time as his coach, Gervais Hakizimana.
Published
Update
Reading time: 1 min
:quality(50)/2024/02/12/000-34hz9mx-65c95b508eeab008761366.jpg)
Elgeyo Marakwet District Police Chief Peter Mulinge confirmed to Kenyan media on Sunday, February 11 Nation the death of marathon record holder Kelvin Kiptum at just 24 years old. “It is an accident where there is no other car involved, and where Kelvin Kiptum was driving his car accompanied by two passengers. Kiptum and Hakizimana [son entraîneur] died instantly, and the third person was transferred to hospital.”.
The young Kenyan marathoner established the best world performance in history last October during the Chicago Marathon. With a time of 2h00’35”, he improved the record set by Eliud Kipchoge in Berlin in 2022 by 34 seconds and became the first athlete to go under the two hours and one minute mark. In five months, he was due to present at the Paris Olympic Games for which he was qualified.
“We are shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the terrible loss of Kelvin Kiptum and his coach, Gervais Hakizimana. On behalf of all of World Athletics, we send our deep condolences to their families, friends, teammates and the Kenyan nation.”reacted Sebastian Coe, the president of World Athletics.
