\n
The men\u2019s marathon world record holder, Kenya\u2019s Kelvin Kiptum, 24, has died in a road accident in his home country.<\/p>\n
He was killed alongside his coach, Rwanda\u2019s Gervais Hakizimana, in a car on a road in western Kenya on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Kiptum made a breakthrough in 2023 as a rival to compatriot Eliud Kipchoge \u2013 one of the greatest marathon runners.<\/p>\n
And it was in Chicago last October that Kiptum bettered Kipchoge\u2019s achievement, clocking the 26.2 miles (42km) in two hours and 35 seconds.<\/p>\n
The two athletes had been named in Kenya\u2019s provisional marathon team for the Paris Olympics later this year.<\/p>\n
Paying tribute to Kiptum, Kenyan Sports Minister Ababu Namwamba wrote on X: \u201cDevastatingly sickening!! Kenya has lost a special gem. Lost for words.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kenya\u2019s opposition leader and former prime minister, Raila Odinga, said the country had lost \u201ca true hero\u201d and was mourning \u201ca remarkable individual\u2026 and Kenyan athletics icon\u201d.<\/p>\n
Sebastian Coe, the president of World Athletics, said Kiptum was \u201can incredible athlete leaving an incredible legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The road accident happened at about 23:00 local time (20:00 GMT) on Sunday, police were quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.<\/p>\n
Giving further details of the crash, police said Kiptum was the driver, and the vehicle \u201clost control and rolled, killing the two on the spot\u201d.<\/p>\n
A spokesman quoted by AFP added that the third passenger \u2013 who was female \u2013 had been injured and \u201crushed to hospital\u201d.<\/p>\n
Just last week, his team announced that he would attempt to run the distance in under two hours at the Rotterdam marathon \u2013 a feat that has never been achieved in open competition.<\/p>\n
The rise to fame for the father-of-two had been rapid \u2013 he only ran his first full marathon in 2022.<\/p>\n
He made an instant impact over the distance as he ran the then fourth fastest time on record (2:01:53) to win the Valencia Marathon before setting a course record of 2:01:25 at the London Marathon in April 2023.<\/p>\n
Six months later, in just his third marathon, Kiptum took 34 seconds off the world record time in Chicago in his final race.<\/p>\n
He had already honed a distinct tactical approach that saw him run with the pack for 30kms before upping the pace and going out on his own for the remainder of the race.<\/p>\n
Kiptum competed in his first major competition in 2018 running in borrowed shoes because he could not afford a pair of his own.<\/p>\n
He was among a new crop of Kenyan athletes who began their careers on the road, breaking away from the past tradition of athletes starting on the track before switching to longer distances.<\/p>\n
Kiptum told the BBC last year that his unusual choice was simply determined by a lack of resources.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had no money to travel to track sessions,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
His coach, Hakizimana, 36, was a retired Rwandese runner. Last year, he spent months helping Kiptum target the world record.<\/p>\n
Their relationship as coach and athlete began in 2018, but the pair first met when the world record holder was much younger.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew him when he was a little boy, herding livestock barefooted,\u201d Hakizimana recalled last year. \u201cIt was in 2009, I was training near his father\u2019s farm, he\u2019d come kicking at my heels and I would chase him away.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, I am grateful to him for his achievement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
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