- Written by Celestine Karoney
- BBC Sport Nairobi, Africa
image source, Getty Images
Kelvin Kiptum broke Eliud Kipchoge's world record at the Chicago Games last October.
Men's marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum, 24, of Kenya, has died in a road accident in his home country, a Kenyan athletics official confirmed to the BBC.
He died in a car with Rwanda coach Gervais Hakizimana on a road near the town of Eldoret.
Kiptum has emerged as a rival to compatriot Eliud Kipchoge in 2023.
He broke Kipchoge's world record at the Chicago Games last October, running 46.1 miles in 2 hours and 35 seconds.
Just last week, his team announced that they would attempt to complete the Rotterdam Marathon in less than two hours, a feat that has never been achieved in regular competition.
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe paid tribute to the young man, calling Kiptum “a great athlete with an incredible legacy and we will all miss him tremendously.”
The father-of-two's rise to fame was rapid, having just run his first full marathon in 2022.
Four years ago, he competed in his first major event running in borrowed shoes because he couldn't afford his own shoes.
He was one of a new wave of Kenyan athletes to start their careers on the road, breaking with the tradition of athletes starting on the track before moving on to long-distance events.
Mr Kiptum told the BBC last year that his unusual choice was simply dictated by a lack of resources.
“I didn't have the transportation money to go to track sessions,” he explained.
