Published 2024-02-12 12.16
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World record holder Kelvin Kiptum was only 24 years old.
Now new details about his death are coming during the night of Monday.
– It’s crushing, says hurdler and friend Milca Chemos.
It was during the night of Monday that the news of the tragic fatal accident shook the world of athletics.
This when Kelvin Kiptum, world record holder in the marathon, died after a traffic accident at 11 pm yesterday, local time in western Kenya.
The Kenyan turned 24 and was mourned by former competitors, peers, former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga and the International Association of Athletics Federations’ Sebastian Coe.
Kiptum’s coach Garavis Hakizimana also died in the accident and now further details are coming that, among other things, a third person, a woman, must have been in the car and then taken to hospital in the city of Eldoret.
According to Daily Mail reports a witness for the site Nation that Kiptum had already died when he was found under the vehicle that he himself was said to have driven and his seat belt was said to have been torn. At the same time, the trainer was found still alive a short distance away, but died moments later.
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fullscreen chevron-rightnextImage of the car Kelven Kiptum crashed in.
1 / 2Photo: AAPP.
The friend: “It’s devastating”
According to newspaper reports, Kiptum is said to have lost control of the vehicle at a ditch on his left as he was about to leave the town of Eldoret. Witnesses then saw the car crash into a tree about 60 meters from the road, which both the police and Jackson Tuwei (president of the Kenyan Athletics Federation) confirm.
Kiptum’s national team colleague Milcah Chemos expressed her sadness after visiting the hospital herself:
– It is devastating that we lost such a hard worker who took our sport to a whole new level, she says on behalf of Kenyan athletics.
Tuwei also explained that the vehicle was “extremely damaged” and that the local police had taken it over for “examination” and “searching”.
During the morning, pictures have been spread from the scene, the people’s families have been notified and the bodies will be autopsied. Just a few days ago, Kiptum’s entourage announced that he would attempt to run a two-hour marathon in Rotterdam in April.
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full screen Photo: AP