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Just months after finishing in a world record at the 2023 Bank of America Chicago Marathon, 24-year-old running star Kelvin Kiptum was struck by a heartbreaking tragedy in Kenya that left the racing world and beyond reeling. gone. he was stunned.
“We are shocked and saddened by the recent passing of Kelvin Kiptum,” Chicago Marathon race director Carey Pinkowski said in a statement Monday. “Kelvin was a once-in-a-generation athlete at the forefront of his career. , there is no doubt about it.” In my mind, his greatest accomplishment was yet to come. I was lucky enough to witness his greatness on the streets of Chicago. ”
Kiptum was expected to be a long-distance running superstar and a favorite to win gold at this year’s Paris Olympics, but he died in a car accident in Kenya along with his coach, Gervais Hakizimana.
Police said their car was the only one involved in the accident late Sunday, when the vehicle Kiptam was driving ran off the road, into a ditch and hit a tree.
It happened near the town of Kaptagat in western Kenya. It is located in the heart of a highland region known as a training base for some of the best distance runners in Kenya and around the world.
Kiptam was born and raised in this area.
A third woman, a 24-year-old woman, was also in the car and was taken to the hospital with serious injuries, police said. Kiptum and Hakijimana died at the scene.
Rookie Kelvin Kiptum completed his first Bank of America Chicago Marathon in historic fashion, not only winning the 2023 race and defeating defending champion Benson Kipruto, but also winning in the process. There is also the possibility of setting a world record. NBC 5’s Christian Farr reports.
Kenya’s Kiptum, 24, is one of the most exciting prospects to emerge in road running in recent years, breaking the world record in just his third elite marathon. His record, set at last year’s Chicago Marathon, was recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics just last week.
“He will be praised for his record-breaking performance, but I will remember him as an incredible talent and an even more amazing person,” Pinkowski said. “The sport of marathoning has suffered a tragic loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.”
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said Kiptum and Hakijimana’s absence will be “deeply felt” and that their “legacies will forever continue to inspire athletes around the world.”
Kiptum’s death resonated across Kenya, where runners are the biggest sports stars. Kenyans are also no stranger to tragic stories about top athletes, following the deaths of many in road and other accidents and incidents of domestic violence.
Rookie Kelvin Kiptum completed his first Bank of America Chicago Marathon in historic fashion, not only winning the 2023 race and defeating defending champion Benson Kipruto, but also winning in the process. There is also the possibility of setting a world record.
Kenyan President William Ruto expressed his condolences in a statement: “He was only 24 years old.” “Kyptum was our future.”
Players and family members, including Kiptum’s father, gathered at the hospital morgue where Kiptum and his coach’s bodies were taken. One of the athletes, former women’s steeplechase world champion Mirka Chemos, broke down in tears and struggled to speak.
“There are no words to explain Kelvin’s death,” she said.
Kiptam’s friend Kenneth Kimayo arrived at the scene of the accident shortly after the incident and said Kiptam was thrown from the car. Photos showed a silver car with a badly damaged roof and a flattened windshield.
Kiptum set a world record of 2:00.35 in Chicago in October, becoming the first person to run a marathon in an official race under 2:01, surpassing fellow Kenyan and marathon great Eliud. -Breaked Kipchoge’s record. Current two-time Olympic champion.
Kiptam and Kipchoge are expected to mount an enthralling all-Kenyan battle for marathon gold in Paris, with Kiptam set to start his season at April’s Rotterdam Marathon, which will see him break the world record. It was scheduled to be the first tournament since.
“He was an athlete who dedicated his life to achieving incredible greatness,” Kipchoge said in his eulogy.
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe was one of the first to express his condolences in a statement on X (formerly Twitter).
“We are shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the devastating passing of Kelvin Kiptum and his coach, Gervais Hakizimana,” Ko wrote.
“It wasn’t until earlier this week that I was able to officially recognize his historic record in Chicago, where Kelvin set his incredible marathon world record. athlete accomplished an incredible feat and we will all miss him greatly.”
David Rudisha, Kenya’s two-time Olympic 800m champion, wrote in X that Kiptum’s death was a “huge loss”.
Kiptam achieved immediate success, recording the fastest time ever as a marathon debutant at the 2022 Valencia Marathon. The following year, he won the London and Chicago races, two of the world’s most prestigious marathon events. He set a new course record at the London Marathon last April, and a few months later became the world’s fastest marathon runner.
Although he was young and new to the circuit, he had already run three of the seven fastest marathon times ever recorded and was considered a rare talent.
But he was also the latest Kenyan star to die in devastating circumstances.
All-African Games silver medalist David Lelei died in a car accident in 2010. Marathon runner Francis Kiplagat was among the five people killed in traffic accidents in 2018. He was also a World Championship runner, including Nicholas Bett, who won gold in the 400m hurdles at the 2015 track and field championships and died in a car accident in 2018.
Rudisha, former 10,000m world champion Moses Tanui and Olympic silver medalist Paul Tergat all survived serious road accidents in the East African country.
Samuel Wanjiru, the 2008 Olympic marathon champion and considered the greatest runner of all time, died in 2011 at the age of 24 after falling from the balcony of his Kenyan home.
Perhaps Kenyans were most shocked when multiple cross-country world champion Agnes Tillop was stabbed to death by her husband in their home in 2021. He was charged with murder.
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