World Athletics president Lord Sebastian Coe says Kelvin Kiptum would have become the first person to run a competitive marathon in under two hours,.
The Kenyan, the world record holder over 26.2 miles (42km) ,who died some ten days ago at the age of 24 was buried in his home village on Friday.
Kiptum was looking to better his record time of two hours and 35 seconds at April’s Rotterdam Marathon.
Lord Coe believes breaking the two-hour barrier in an official race will be akin to Roger Bannister’s four-minute mile in 1954 and the first successful climb of Mount Everest by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.
“It is a frustration to all of us that we won’t witness what I truly know he was capable of,” Lord Coe told BBC Sport Africa.
Kiptum set his world record in Chicago last October, bettering compatriot Eliud Kipchoge’s previous benchmark by 34 seconds.
Kipchoge had become the first athlete to run the marathon distance in under two hours in October 2019, clocking one hour 59 minutes and 40 seconds in Vienna.
However, it is not recognised as the official marathon world record because it was not in open competition and he used a team of rotating pacemakers, among other aids not usually available to runners.
“I will remember Kelvin from my time I spent with him just before Christmas in Monaco when he was celebrated in our Athlete of the Year awards,” he added.
“He spoke from the heart about the world record and, sadly, he spoke about his future.
“I watched him run in Chicago on television and he had a beautiful style. It was economic, fluid and graceful. He looked like a proper runner.”
Lord Coe Says Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum ‘Would Have Broken’ Two-Hour Marathon Mark
