The reigning world marathon record holder Kelvin Kiptum and his Rwandese coach, Garvis Hakizimana, died in a horrific road accident on Sunday at 11 pm.
According to police, the tragic road crash occurred at the Kaptagat area along the Elgeyo Marakwet-Ravine road, where Kiptum and Hakizimana died on the spot due to the impact of the self-involved accident.
In October when Kiptum made headlines after he shattered the men's world record by clocking 2:00:35 to become the first man to run a marathon in under two hours and one minute and taking 34 seconds off fellow Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge's previous record.
Kiptum's world marathon mark was ratified just last week by the international track federation World Athletics and was preparing to open his new season at the Rotterdam Marathon on April 14 this year before joining the Kenyan team for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
In a tweet, World Athletics president Sebastian Coe send his condolences to the World marathaon record holder.
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We are shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the devastating loss of Kelvin Kiptum and his coach, Gervais Hakizimana.
— Seb Coe (@sebcoe) February 11, 2024
On behalf of all World Athletics we send our deepest condolences to their families, friends, teammates and the Kenyan nation.
It was only earlier this week in… pic.twitter.com/dDBKgjXNKL