Kenyan runner Kelvin Kiptum, the marathon world record holder, died in a car crash Sunday night at age 24.
Kiptum was driving the car with his coach, Gervais Hakizimana, as a passenger, in the village of Kaptagat in western Kenya when the car veered off the road and ran into a tree. Hakizimana also was killed. A woman was also in the car, and she was taken to a hospital with serious injuries, according to the Associated Press.
Kiptum’s world record of 2:00.35 was set in October at the Chicago Marathon. The record officially was ratified by international track federation World Athletics just last week. It was only the third major marathon of Kiptum’s career.
The 24-year-old was a favorite to win gold in the marathon at the 2024 Paris Olympics this summer.
Kiptum was slate to compete at the Rotterdam Marathon in April, which would’ve been his first race since breaking the world record in Chicago.
