Marathon world record-holder Kelvin Kiptum, who was poised to be a superstar of long-distance running, was killed along with his coach in a car crash in Kenya late Sunday.
Kiptum was 24 and had the world record he set last year at the Chicago Marathon ratified by the international track federation World Athletics just last week.
He was also one of the favourites to win gold in the marathon at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Kiptum, who was Kenyan, and his Rwandan coach Gervais Hakizimana were killed in the crash at around 11 pm. According to another Kenyan athlete, Milcah Chemos, the crash happened on a road between the towns of Eldoret and Kaptagat in western Kenya.
Local authorities confirmed only one car was involved in the crash and that a third person, a woman, who was also in the vehicle, was taken to hospital with severe injuries. He added that it appeared the car had veered off the road at high speed and collided with a tree before rolling.
Kiptum was the first man to run the marathon in under 2 hours and 1 minute in an official race when he set the world record of 2:00.35 in Chicago in October, beating the mark of fellow Kenyan and marathon great Eliud Kipchoge. He set the record in just his third top-level marathon.
Kiptum and Kipchoge were expected to provide an enticing all-Kenyan battle for marathon gold in Paris. Kiptum was due to start his season at the Rotterdam Marathon in April, which would have been his first event since breaking the world record.
