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Kenyan running sensation, Kelvin Kiptum the marathon world record-holder died in a car crash at the age of 24 in his home country.
The favourite for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics was driving from Kaptagat to Eldoret in western Kenya around 11 pm (2000 GMT) on Sunday when his car rolled.
Kiptum and his Rwandan coach Gervais Hakizimana were killed while a woman passenger was injured, said Peter Mulinge, police commander for Elgeyo Marakwet County where the accident occurred.
“The car had three occupants, two died on the spot, while one was taken to hospital. The two are Kiptum and his coach,” he said.
“It is Kiptum who was driving heading to Eldoret and the vehicle lost control and rolled, killing the two on the spot,” he told reporters.
Kiptum exploded onto the marathon scene when he ran a world record 2:00:35 in Chicago in October, taking 34 seconds off fellow Kenyan star Eliud Kipchoge’s previous record.
He was just 23 years old at the time, and competing in only his third marathon.
Kiptum also won his other two efforts — his debut in Valencia in 2022 and a follow-up in London the following year.
“Arguably one of the world’s finest sportsmen who broke barriers to secure a marathon record,” Kenyan President William Ruto said on X, describing Kiptum as “our future” and “an extraordinary sportsman”.
Ten years ago, barely a teen, he herded goats and sheep and then began following Hakizimana, who is from Rwanda, and other runners as they trained in the legendary high-altitude region.
By 2019, Kiptum ran two half-marathons in two weeks, going 60:48 in Copenhagen and 59:53 in Belfort, France. He began training with Hakizimana, who stayed in Kenya when the Covid-19 pandemic struck.
Kiptum’s death is the latest in a saga of tragedies to hit Kenya’s young athletics hopefuls.
In 2011, Kenyan marathon great Samuel Wanjiru died at the same age after capturing the Olympic title in 2008 at the Beijing Olympics.
According to a pathologist, Wanjiru was killed from being hit on the head with a blunt object.
In 2021, long-distance running star Agnes Tirop was found stabbed to death at the age of 25 at her house in Iten, near Eldoret.
Her husband Ibrahim Rotich went on trial for her murder in November last year. He has denied the charge and was freed on bail just before the trial opened.
AFP