Marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum died in a traffic accident in his native Kenya. The local police confirmed this to the French news agency AFP. The long-distance runner was only 24 years old. His trainer was also killed in the accident.
Kiptum shattered the world record last October and literally turned the marathon world upside down. The then 23-year-old ran the 42.195 km in Berlin in 2:00:35 hours, 34 seconds faster than the then record holder Eliud Kipchoge a year earlier in Berlin. Back in April, Kiptum had already moved up to second place on the all-time best list in London in 2:01:25 hours.
At the Summer Olympics in Paris this year, Kiptum, who did not compete for Kenya at any major international championships, was supposed to meet against his compatriot Kipchoge. Kiptum was considered a promising candidate to become the first person to break the magical two-hour mark under regular conditions.