Kenyan marathon world record-holder Kiptum killed in car crash

(FILES) Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum runs to the line to win the Men’s race at the finish of the 2023 London Marathon in central London on April 23, 2023. – World marathon record holder Kelvin Kiptum and his coach Gervais Hakizimana have died in a car crash in western Kenya that left a third passenger also injured, police said on February 11, 2024. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP) / “RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – SPONSORSHIP OF CONTENT SUBJECT TO LMEL AGREEMENT”. – “Restricted to editorial use – sponsorship of content subject to LMEL agreement”.

Tributes poured in on Monday for Kenyan running sensation Kelvin Kiptum after the marathon world record-holder was killed in a car crash at the age of 24.

The favourite for the Paris 2024 Olympics was driving from Kaptagat to Eldoret in the Rift Valley of western Kenya around 11 pm (2000 GMT) on Sunday when his car came off the road and hit a tree.

Kiptum, a father of two, and his Rwandan coach Gervais Hakizimana were killed while a woman passenger was seriously injured, police said.

“He lost control and veered off-road entering into a ditch on his left side. He drove in the ditch for about 60 metres (yards) before hitting a big tree,” said an official police report from Elegyo Marakwet County where the accident occurred.

It said Kiptum and Hakizimana died on the spot while the passenger Sharon Chepkurui Kosgei was rushed to hospital with serious injuries.

Images on Kenyan media showed the mangled wreck of the vehicle, its windscreen shattered, the roof and doors buckled and almost ripped off.

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 at the time, and