Men’s marathon world record holder, Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum, 24, has died in a road accident in his home country.
He was killed alongside his coach, Rwanda’s Gervais Hakizimana, in a car on a road in western Kenya on Sunday.
Kiptum made a breakthrough in 2023 as a rival to compatriot Eliud Kipchoge – one of the greatest marathon runners.
And it was in Chicago last October that Kiptum bettered Kipchoge’s achievement, clocking the 26.1 miles (42km) in two hours and 35 seconds.
The two athletes had been named in Kenya’s provisional marathon team for the Paris Olympics later this year.
The road accident happened at about 23:00 local time on Sunday,
Giving further details of the crash, police said Kiptum was the driver, and the vehicle “lost control and rolled, killing the two on the spot”.
Just last week, his team announced that he would attempt to run the distance in under two hours at the Rotterdam marathon – a feat that has never been achieved in open competition.
The rise to fame for the father-of-two had been rapid – he only ran his first full marathon in 2022.
He competed in his first major competition four years earlier running in borrowed shoes as he could not afford a pair of his own.
