London Marathon winner and world record holder Kelvin Kiptum has died at just 24 years old.
The Kenyan long-distance runner died along with his coach Garve Hakizimana in a car accident on Sunday.
Kiptam won the London Marathon last April, breaking the course record by finishing in 2 hours, 1 minute, 25 seconds.
And just a few months later, he broke the world marathon record by completing a 26-mile race in Chicago in just 2 hours and 35 seconds.
The International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics recognized his record just last week.
He was currently training to run just under two hours at the Rotterdam Marathon on April 14th.
Kiptum has also been selected to represent Kenya in this summer’s 2024 Paris Olympics.
The tragedy occurred on Sunday in the Kaptagat area along the Elgeyo-Marakwet-Lavione road in southwestern Kenya.
According to local reports, Kiptam was driving a Toyota Premio with two people inside at the time of his death.
His coach, Gervais Hakiziman of Rwanda, also lost his life in the accident.
The other passenger was a woman identified as Sharon Kosgei.
She survived the impact but suffered serious injuries and was taken to Racecourse Hospital for treatment.
The bodies of Kiptum and Hakiziman were taken to the hospital mortuary.
Elgeyo Marakwet Police Commander Petr Mulinge confirmed that the accident occurred at around 11pm (8pm GMT).
Mlinge said Kiptum lost control of the car, veered off the road and landed in a ditch about 60 meters away, hitting a tree.
He added that Kiptum and Hakizimana “died at the scene.”
Kelvin Kiptum was famous for being the only person in history to run a marathon in less than 2 hours and 1 minute in a recordable race.
But the 24-year-old Kenyan had to rise from the depths of poverty before achieving his remarkable success.
When Kiptamu competed in his first major local tournament in 2018, he competed in borrowed running shoes because he couldn’t afford to buy his own.
Kiptam started his career on the road, breaking away from the traditional tradition of athletes starting on the track before transitioning to long distance.
But it wasn’t out of choice.
Kiptum claims he made this decision simply due to a lack of resources.
“I didn’t have the transportation money to go to track sessions,” he explained.
“My training location was far from the track, so I started training with people who were road running. That’s how I started running marathons.”