Thousands of London Marathon runners honored the memory of late men’s champion Kelvin Kiptum ahead of Sunday’s race.
Kenyan runner Kiptum was 24 years old when he died along with his Rwandan coach Gervais Hakizimana, 37, in a traffic accident in their homeland on February 11.
Kiptum ran the second-fastest marathon in history in London last year, clocking a time of 2:01:25, just 16 seconds off the world record.
A black and white image of Kiptum crossing the finish line on the Mall, with Buckingham Palace in the background, was shown on giant screens before Sunday’s start.
Applause and cheers rang out from elite runners and fans alike, as well as hundreds of spectators who lined the 26.1-mile course to remember him.
London Marathon runners paid tribute to the late men’s champion Kelvin Kiptum at the start line following the Kenyan’s tragic death in a car accident in February.
An image of Kiptum winning last year’s London Marathon was shown on giant screens, prompting an explosion of cheers and applause.
Kiptum set the second-fastest marathon time ever in the London race last year
Kiptum was married with two children and grew up in a family of athletes; His father was also a runner and his mother was a volleyball player.
Kiptum (left) and his trainer Gervais Hakizimana (right) died in a road accident in the Kaptagat area of Kenya on February 11.
Kiptum made history last October when he clocked 2:00.35 to win the Chicago Marathon.
The announcer said that ‘at 24, Kelvin was a world record holder and had the sport of the marathon at his feet.’
Kiptum made history in October 2023 when he clocked 2:00.35 to win the Chicago Marathon, breaking fellow Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge’s world record by 34 seconds.
Kiptum would have been the favorite to win gold at this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris, in what was to be an all-powerful showdown against teammate Kipchoge, the 39-year-old two-time defending champion.
The news shook the athletics world, with World Athletics president Seb Coe leading tributes to Kiptum at the time, saying he was “an incredible athlete who leaves an incredible legacy.”
Kenenisa Bekele, the former Ethiopian Olympic 10,000 and 5,000 meters champion who still competes in the elite marathon field at the age of 41, said this week that Kiptum had already created “an amazing history” in the sport.
“Kelvin, of course, we all miss him,” said Bekele, who was runner-up in the London Marathon in 2017.
The remains of the car in which Kiptum and his coach were traveling after crashing into a large tree
Kiptum is said to have lost control of his vehicle in the Kaptagat area along the Eldama-Eldoret ravine while returning from Eldoret in Uasin Gishu county.
“We put him in a special place in our hearts because… in a short time he has done a lot for our sport.”
A passenger, Sharon Chepkemoi, 32, was in the car but survived the crash.
Kiptum, who was a father of two and son of a runner and volleyball player, lost control of his vehicle in Kaptagat area along Eldama Ravine-Eldoret while returning from Eldoret in Uasin Gishu County.
Jackson Tuwei, president of Athletics Kenya, said the vehicle veered off the road into a ditch before hitting a large tree 60 meters from the main road.
According to Kenneth Kimaiyo, one of the first responders at the crash site, via NationKiptum’s body was found under the vehicle with the runner already dead and Hakizimana still alive on a hill.
He said he saw a man on a motorcycle helping Chepkemoi at the scene, who was shouting for help and was taken to Sanvanis dispensary before being taken to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret.
“We tried to save the coach because he was still breathing, but he died immediately,” said Kimaiyo, adding that he had known Kiptum for a long time because he often visited his shop in Chepkorio.
“Kiptum was lying under the car with the seat belt broken and he was already dead,” he revealed.
Kiptum hoped to be the first man to break the two-hour barrier in a marathon in Rotterdam in April.
Before his death, Kiptum aimed to make more history by becoming the first man to break the two-hour barrier in a ratified race, potentially at the Rotterdam Marathon this month.
“I’m going to Rotterdam to run fast,” he said before Christmas. “I would like to grow more and thus, inevitably, break the barrier.”
Kiptum was born and raised in Chepkorio, in Kenya’s Rift Valley. He worked on his family’s cattle farm and began running at age 13, following local marathon runners on the trails near his house.
Kiptum made his international debut as a teenager in 2019 when he finished fifth in the Lisbon Half Marathon. A year later, he acted as a pacemaker for Britain’s Mo Farah when the Briton broke the one-hour track world record at a Diamond League meeting in Brussels.
Runners cross the start line of the London Marathon on Sunday morning
“Kelvin was an incredibly talented athlete and had already accomplished so much,” Farah said on Instagram. “He really had a special talent and I have no doubt that he would have had an incredible career.”
Farah’s teammate Emile Cairess, who finished sixth in London last year behind Kiptum, added: “A lot of people thought they would never see a sub-two-hour marathon in their lives, but since he came along, it’s like It was a given that he would do so due to his exceptional performances thus far.
‘It was almost certain that he would have done it. “It is terribly sad and a real shame that we will not be able to see it again or attack that barrier.”
Perhaps the most extraordinary thing about Kiptum was the way he ran the second half of his marathons faster than the first. In London, he covered the second 21.1 kilometers (13.1 miles) in 59:45. In Chicago, it was 59:47.