Kelvin Kiptum death - updates: Kipchoge pays tribute as marathon world record holder passes in Kenya accident

KENYA’S OLYMPIC CHAMPION AND 800M WORLD RECORD HOLDER DAVID RUDISHA

“I am shocked and deeply saddened to learn the passing of Kelvin Kiptum and his coach Gervais Hakizimana. My condolences to the families, friends, athletic fraternity and Kenya at large. This is a huge loss.”

KENYA’S FIVE-TIME OLYMPIAN BERNARD LAGAT

“I’m shocked to hear of the tragic accident that took the lives of Kevin Kiptum (WR Holder- Marathon) and his Coach today. Gone too soon. RIP Champion”

AUSTRALIA’S ROBERT DE CASTELLA, FORMER WORLD CHAMPION MARATHON RUNNER

“Shocking tragedy! Just like that, a rising superstar is gone. Highlights how precious life is, and how vulnerable we all are.”

KENYA’S FORMER PRIME MINISTER RAILA ODINGA

“My deepest condolences to his loved ones, friends, and the entire athletics fraternity. Our nation grieves the profound loss of a true hero.”

KENYA’S SPORTS MINISTER ABABU NAMWAMBA

“Kenya has lost a special gem. Lost for words.”

“Kelvin Kiptum was a star. Arguably one of the world’s finest sportsmen who broke barriers to secure a marathon record.

“He was only 24 yet, as a hero, triumphed in Valencia, Chicago, London and in other top competitions. His mental strength and discipline were unmatched. Kiptum was our future.

“An extraordinary sportsman has left an extraordinary mark in the globe. Our thoughts are with the family and the sporting fraternity. Rest In Peace.”

Sir Mo Farah is the latest athletics star to pay tribute to Kiptum, hailing a “special talent”.

Images have emerged of the wreckage in which Kenya’s marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum and his coach were killed.

Pictures show the car being towed from the scene of the traffic accident along the Kaptagat-to-Eldoret highway, near the Rift Valley town of Eldoret, Kenya.

Hakizimana, 36, was a former distance runner who still holds Rwanda’s record for the 3,000 metres steeplechase. He met first Kiptum when he was training in the Rift Valley and worked with him intensively before last year’s London marathon.

“I am shocked and deeply saddened to learn the passing of Kelvin Kiptum and his coach Gervais Hakizimana,” Kenya’s twice Olympic champion and 800m world record holder David Rudisha said in a post on X.

“This is a huge loss.”

“In the hunt to find sporting meaning during the strange supporter absence of the 2020 Covid pandemic summer, the Brussels Diamond League opted to stage a rare assault on the one-hour world record.

“Although 13 men lined up on the King Baudouin Stadium startline, the race was little more than a one-man time trial geared solely around Britain’s four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah. Everyone else was there to aid his cause.

“Among the faceless dozen was an unknown Kenyan. At that point in his career, Kelvin Kiptum’s international pedigree was almost non-existent. A year earlier, he had led for some time at the Rotterdam Marathon, although the word ‘Pace’ located where his name would otherwise have been written on his bib betrayed his lowly status as a bit-part in a bigger picture.

“Just as he had on that day, Kiptum failed to finish the one-hour run in the Belgian capital, managing to stick to Farah’s heel for all of 18 minutes before the pace became too tough and he soon dropped out. No one watching would have gleaned the slightest inkling of what he might become.

“The tragic death of one of athletics’ finest ever talents will ensure the Kiptum story is one that remains forever unfinished; barely even started, in fact.”

Kiptum, a product of the high altitude region of Kenya which has produced most of the country’s world renowned distance runners, started his international career on the half-marathon circuit in 2019.

He made an explosive entry into the full 42.195km distance by running the then fourth fastest time on record (2.01.53) to win the 2022 Valencia Marathon on debut.

That race revealed his trademark approach to marathons, running with the pack for the first 30kms and then upping the pace and racing off alone for the remainder of the race.

He used the same tactics to win last April’s London Marathon in a course record of 2:01:25 and again in Chicago in October to take 34 seconds off Kipchoge’s world mark.

That was to be his final race before his untimely death, which came only a week after World Athletics had ratified his world record.

Despite the late hour, tributes were paid to Kiptum by senior Kenyan politicians and government officials.

“Devastating news as we mourn the loss of a remarkable individual, Kelvin Kiptum, World Record holder and Kenyan athletics icon,” former Kenya prime minister Raila Odinga said on social media platform X.

“My deepest condolences to his loved ones, friends, and the entire athletics fraternity. Our nation grieves the profound loss of a true hero.”

According to the police report, Kiptum was driving his Rwandan coach and a woman in a car near the Rift Valley village where he was born when the accident occurred.

The athlete lost control of the vehicle and veered off the road into a ditch, travelling for about 60 metres along it before crashing into a large tree.

Kiptum and Gervais Hakizimana died at the scene but the woman, 24-year-old Sharon Chepkurui Kosgei Keiyo, survived with serious injuries and was treated at a local hospital.