Nyahururu based athletes joined other Kenyans in mourning the World Marathon record holder, Kelvin Kiptum, by observing a minute of silence before their speed work training, Tuesday.
The Chicago World Marathon record holder, Kelvin Kiptum, died on Sunday night, through a road accident.
The athletes said the death had robbed the sports fraternity one of the finest road runners in the Country.
They mourned that the death has robbed athletics fans of a mouthwatering showdown between Kiptum and Eliud Kipchoge, whose world record he bettered. The two were in the Kenyan marathon team for this year’s Paris Olympic Games, scheduled to take place in August.
His death was in the minds of the athletes and they could be heard discussing it before and after training at the Nyahururu stadium.
Former marathon runner who is currently a coach in Japan, Daniel Njenga, said he was receiving a lot of calls from the Far East Country, by people who wanted to know more about the tragic accident.
Kiptum and his Coach, Garvais Hakizimana from Rwanda, died in a road accident in Eldoret.
The death that has shocked the Country and the world of athletics, occurred when the vehicle they were travelling in rolled along the Eldoret-Kaptagat Highway.
Kiptum set the World Record in the Chicago Marathon, clocking 2:00:35, surpassing Kipchoge’s previous record of 2:01:9 set in 2022.
By Peris Wanjiku and Antony Mwangi
