by Justin Lagat
On February 12, many athletics fans in Kenya woke up to the shocking news of Kelvin Kiptum’s passing. Having happened at around midnight, the news might have traveled faster to the Western world, and I awoke to messages and news on my phone. I checked the date on my phone to make sure it wasn’t April 1st. I then turned on the TV, and it was there. The news was all over the place.
In Kiptum, Kenyans saw a sure successor to the men’s marathon Kingdom. His rise and exploits were unparalleled. As many termed him, he was indeed the future of marathon running.
But, the sad news of his passing away shocked many. He is reported to have died in a road accident along the Eldoret-Kaptagat road, together with his coach, Gervais Hakizimana, at around 11 pm on Sunday.
This was the most devastating news to the Kenyan athletics fraternity and a great loss to his family, where he was the only child, as alleged by his father in a TV interview.
At the tender age of 24, Kiptum had run all three of his marathons under two hours and two minutes:: 2:01:53 at the Valencia Marathon, 2:01:25 at the London Marathon, and 2:00:35 at the Chicago Marathon. World Athletics recently ratified this time as the world record.
The fact that he just ran the world record on a different course than the one that had yielded the last eight records speaks volumes about his potential. All the previous eight men’s marathon records before his were recorded at the Berlin Marathon. One could only imagine what time he would have run at the Berlin Marathon.
Kiptum was already entered to run at the Rotterdam Marathon on April 14th in what many expected him to lower the world record further to under 2 hours. Many fans were also looking forward to a day when Kiptum would run against Eliud Kipchoge, the former world record holder, probably at the Paris Olympics.
However, all these big dreams were suddenly shattered by a road accident that took away the highly talented marathon runner the world had ever seen and a coach who knew all the secrets to make him the world record holder. It is a significant loss to athletics, especially long-distance running, in the world.
Our condolences go to his family, friends, and the entire athletics fraternity.
