Michelle Katami in Nairobi
When Kelvin Kiptum clocked 2:01:53 at the Valencia Marathon in December 2022, the athletics world reluctantly paid attention. Beginner’s luck?
Only legends Eliud Kipchoge and Kenenisa Bekele had run faster but the day’s winner was relatively unknown, running his debut marathon on the world stage. Before that, he had run half marathons, with a fastest time of 58:42.
That incredible performance in Valencia was followed by a 2:01:25 finish in the London Marathon in April 2023.
Now, the athletics world was intrigued. Who was this guy with no track and cross-country experience?
Six months later in October during the Chicago Marathon, he threw the hammer down, delivering a remarkable time of just 2:00:35. He broke Eliud Kipchoge’s world record of 2:01:09 by 34 seconds – a new world marathon record! The world of athletics stood up. Kipchoge’s heir had arrived. Kiptum’s world record was ratified last week. On Sunday night, just days later, he was killed in a road accident that also claimed the life of his coach, Rwandan runner Gervais Hakizimana.
A rare gem and raw talent
There’s a tragic poetry to the two dying together. For years before the world of athletics ever took note of Kiptum, when he was too poor to travel to international meets, Hakizimana was polishing the gem out of his raw talent. Hakizimana met Kiptum when he was barely a teenager. He was among the village kids that ran after the runners training in Iten, the athletics training village in eastern Kenya.
When Hakizimana retired from running and became a coach, he took him on. But he had to fight for Kiptum to pursue athletics rather than get a college diploma and become an electrician, as his father wanted. For years, they trained without notable success, even as the coach insisted he had a future in athletics. Then, in 2022, Kiptum overcame his fear of the full marathon and blasted into fame.
He was the kind of athlete who stayed with the leading pack in the first half, only to pick up blistering speed in the second, dropping off the pacers. He scooped the 2023 World Athlete of the Year for men’s out of stadia award within only a year of marathon running.
At 24, he was preparing to conquer another milestone: becoming the first person to run the marathon in under two hours in an official race.
The Rotterdam Marathon in April would have been his first attempt. Now we will never know if he would have pulled it off. He left the world as he entered athletics history: unexpectedly.
Kiptum was born in Keiyo district in Kenya and was his parents’ only child.
He was married to Asenath Cheruto Rotich with whom he shared two children.
As a boy he loved running barefoot in the forest and helping his father look after the cattle in their rural home 30km away from Eldoret.
He has left his family in agony and Kenya is devastated. But the skies are now faster. Go well, KK.