Kiptum and coach die in car accident
Kiptum and coach die in car accident
Marathon world record-holder was driving vehicle that veered off road and hit tree
Track and field lost one of its brightest stars on Sunday night when marathon world record-holder Kelvin Kiptum of Kenya and his coach, Gervais Hakizimana, were killed in a car accident that took place in western Kenya.
According to multiple news reports, the 24-year-old Kiptum, who was driving a Toyota Premio, and the 36-year-old Rwandan, Hakizimana, died at the scene of the accident, which occurred around 11 p.m. local time.
A third occupant of the vehicle, Sharon Chepkurui Kosgei, survived the crash, but sustained serious injuries and was taken to a local hospital.
“He lost control, veered off the road, entered a ditch 60 meters away and hit a big tree,” Elgeyo-Marakwet County Police Commander Peter Mulinge was quoted as saying in a CNN.com post.
“We are shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the devastating loss of Kelvin Kiptum and his coach, Gervais Hakizimana,” World Athletics president Sebastian Coe wrote in a statement that was posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “On behalf of all World Athletics we send our deepest condolences to their families, friends, teammates and the Kenyan nation. It was only earlier this week in Chicago, the place where Kelvin set his extraordinary marathon World Record, that I was able to officially ratify his historic time. An incredible athlete leaving an incredible legacy, we will miss him dearly.”
Compatriot Eliud Kipchoge, the man whose world record was broken by Kiptum, posted the following on social media several hours ago.
“I am deeply saddened by the tragic passing of the marathon world record holder and rising star Kelvin Kiptum. An athlete who had a whole life ahead of him to achive incredible greatness. May I offer my deepest condolences to his young family.”
Kiptum is survived by his wife, Asenath Rotich, and their two children, Caleb and Precious.
Hugh Brasher, the event director of the London Marathon, wrote the following in a statement.
“Kelvin had the sport of marathon running in his feet and at his feet. He was a ‘once in a generation’ athlete who was set to redefine the boundaries of our sport.
“Three marathons, three wins. The fastest marathon debutant in Valencia, London’s course record holder and the world record holder in Chicago, all within the space of less than 12 months.
“His was a flame that burned so bright and last night was tragically put out.”
Kiptum, who lowered the world record in the marathon to 2 hours 35 seconds in the Chicago Marathon last October, first made headlines in December of 2022 when he won the Valencia Marathon in Spain with a stunning time of 2:01:53 in his debut at the 42.195-kilometer/26-mile 385-yard distance.
He entered that race with personal bests of 58:42 for the half marathon and 28:27.87 for 10,000 meters, but he left it with what was then the fourth-fastest time in history after clocking a scintillating 28:05 for the 10-kilometer segment of the race from 30 to 40 kilometers.
He followed that with an even-quicker performance in last year’s London Marathon in April when he ran 2:01:25 to move to second on the all-time performer list behind Kipchoge, who had lowered his world record to 2:01:09 in the 2022 Berlin Marathon.
Then came the Chicago Marathon when Kiptum’s 2:00:35 effort won the race by nearly three and a half minutes and came after he had run the second half of the contest in a scorching 59:47 that included a 27:52 split from 30 to 40 kilometers.
“The world record was not on my mind today,” Kiptum said in a post-race interview with an NBC affiliate in Chicago. “But that’s come definitely. But I knew one day, one time, I’d be the world record-holder.”
Almost immediately after his performance in Chicago, distance-running fans began to wonder if Kiptum could become the first man in history to run under two hours in an official marathon race.
Kipchoge had run 1:59:40.2 in an event called the Ineos 1:59 Challenge in Vienna in October of 2019. However, that mark was not eligible for record purposes because Kipchoge was not racing anyone else that day while being helped along by more than three-dozen runners who paced him during different segments of the course while running in formations that had been determined — by computer-generated models and wind-tunnel tests — to be most effective at blocking the wind for him.
Kiptum had announced in early November of last year that his next marathon would come in Rotterdam in the Netherlands on April 14 of this year, and he did not shy away from talk about breaking the two-hour barrier in that event.
“I’ll try at least to beat my world record here,” he said in a press conference for the Rotterdam Marathon. “I know I’m capable of doing that, if my preparation works out well and the conditions are OK. And in that case, I will get close to the two-hour barrier, so why not aim to break it? That might look ambitious, but I’m not afraid of setting this kind of goals. There’s no limit to human energy.”
In addition to Rotterdam, Kiptum had recently said he was looking forward to competing in the Olympic Games in Paris in August, when he was expected to race two-time defending champion Kipchoge for the first time.
The death of Kiptum and Hakizimana, who set a Rwandan record of 8:39.05 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 2011, brought to my mind the deaths of three high-profile distance runners who were killed in automobile accidents more than four decades ago.
Steve Prefontaine of the U.S. had died at the age of 24 in 1975, Ivo van Damme of Belgium had been killed in 1976 when he was 22, and Bronislaw Malinowski of Poland died in 1981 at the age of 30.
Prefontaine had finished fourth in the men’s 5,000 meters in the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich and held American records in the 2,000, 3,000, 5,000, and 10,000 at the time of his death.
Van Damme had won silver medals in the 800 and 1,500 meters in the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal before his death in December of that year.
Malinowski won the gold medal in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow after winning a silver medal in Montreal and finishing fourth in Munich.