Marathon: Kiptum, the world record holder, dies

At the beginning of December, in Monte Carlo, together with Noah Lyles and Mondo Duplantis, he had been elected best world athlete of 2023 by the international federation. Overcoming his shyness and reluctance to interviews, gradually melting away, he had told about his life and his dreams. On Tuesday his marvelous 2h00’35”, achieved in Chicago on 8 October, was ratified as a marathon world record. Yesterday – around 11pm local time, 9pm Italian time – Kelvin Kiptum, a 24-year-old Kenyan, an extraordinary talent, died as a result of a car accident together with his coach, the Rwandan Gervais Hakizimana, on the road from Kaptagat to Eldoret. With the two a woman, Sharon Kosgei, hospitalized at the Racecourse Hospital in Eldoret. They were aboard a Toyota Premio. Kiptum would have been driving and no other vehicle would have been involved. The families and local authorities confirmed the news: the bodies were transported to the Mtrh, Eldoret morgue.

history

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Kelvin, capable of succeeding His Majesty Eliud Kipchoge at the top of the world list of the specialty, was a candidate to be the first to break (officially) the two-hour barrier over 42 km. He had already made an appointment for April 14th, on the very fast Rotterdam route. And, in August, he would have been the favorite for Olympic gold in Paris. «Kenya, like all countries, will have three places available – he humbly recalled in the Principality – and I want one to be mine. As a team we will collaborate, but then everyone will do it for themselves. So I could also aim for the Tokyo 2025 World Championships: I saw the world championship race in Budapest: it fascinated me.” A cursed fate decided differently, it eliminated all ambitions. Depriving a young woman of her husband, Caleb and Precious, 7 and 4 years old, of their dad (he was 16 when the first was born) and those who love the sport of one of the most authentic champions of this era. Kiptum, in order to focus everything on athletics, in agreement with his wife, had made a specific life choice: during the four months preceding a marathon, he was with them only on Sundays. “We live three kilometers apart from each other – he said -. But I cannot allow myself distractions. I live in Chepkorio, over 2500 metres, they live in Chepsamo, a smaller village. We are 40 kilometers from Eldoret, in the Rift Valley”. The boy, according to certain news reports, could travel up to 290 kilometers a week, loads he had never borne before.

two hours

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With a perfect physique (60 kilos distributed along 174 centimeters) and extraordinary action, in his entire career he managed to run only three marathons. Winning them. In Valencia, in December 2022, in 2h01’53” (best debut in history), in London, in April 2023, in 2h01’25” in the rain and, of course, in Chicago. Those times are among the top six all-time world performances: it’s impressive to think that the average is 2h01’18”. Always following the same script, the same strategy: covering the second half faster than the first. In Illinois in 1h00’48” and 59’47”, despite the negative split. The suggestion of the two hours was intense: “I will go to Holland to run fast – he explained – the route is ideal and the crowd pushes us to give our best. Furthermore, the organization is linked to my management: in 2019 I acted as the hare, I was supposed to participate in 2022, but a slight injury stopped me. This will be the right time. I’d like to get to where no one has arrived. If the preparation goes in the right direction and the environmental conditions allow it, I’ll try. Ambitious? With good reason “.

Wanjiru

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How cruel it is to remember now how fate unites Kiptum with another great Kenyan marathon runner, the 2008 Beijing Olympic gold medalist, Samuel Wanjiru. Less than three years after the five-circle feat, on 15 May 2011, Samuel died in his native Nyahururu, following a fall from the balcony of his home, probably due – it was said – to a quarrel with his wife. He was 24 years old. Like Kiptum.