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London Marathon runners pay emotional tribute to Kelvin Kiptum - the Kenyan athlete tragically killed in car crash aged 24 - ahead of race he won in stunning fashion last year

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Thousands of London Marathon runners honoured the memory of the late reigning men's champion Kelvin Kiptum ahead of Sunday's race.

Kenyan runner Kiptum was 24 when he died alongside his Rwandan coach Gervais Hakizimana, 37, in a road accident in his homeland on February 11.

Kiptum ran the second-fastest marathon in history in London last year, setting a time of 2:01:25, just 16 seconds outside the world record.


A black and white image of Kiptum crossing the finish line on the Mall, with Buckingham Palace in the background, was displayed on big screens ahead of Sunday's start.

Applause and cheers rang out from elite and amateur runners alike, plus hundreds of spectators lining the 26.1 mile course, to remember him.

London Marathon runners paid tribute to the late reigning men's champion Kelvin Kiptum on the start line following the Kenyan's tragic death in a car accident in February

An image of Kiptum winning last year's London Marathon was shown on big screens, prompting an outbreak of cheers and applause

Kiptum set the second-fastest marathon time in history in the London race last year

Kiptum was a married father of two, and grew up in a family of athletes, with his father also a runner and his mother a volleyball player

Kiptum (L) and his coach Gervais Hakizimana (R) died in the road accident in Kenya's Kaptagat area on February 11

Kiptum made history last October when he clocked 2:00.35 to win the Chicago Marathon

The announcer said 'at 24, Kelvin was world record holder and had the sport of marathon running at his feet.' 

Kiptum made history in October 2023 when he clocked 2:00.35 to win the Chicago Marathon, smashing his fellow Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge's world record by 34 seconds.

Kiptum would have been the favourite to win gold at this summer's Olympics in Paris, in what was set to be an almighty showdown against his team-mate Kipchoge, the 39-year-old two-time defending champion. 

The news rocked the athletics world, with World Athletics president Seb Coe leading the tributes to Kiptum at the time, saying he was 'an incredible athlete leaving an incredible legacy'.

Kenenisa Bekele, the Ethiopian former Olympic 10,000 and 5,000-metre champion who is still competing in the elite marathon field at the age of 41, said this week that Kiptum had already created 'an amazing history' in the sport.

'Kelvin of course, all of us miss him,' said Bekele, who was the runner-up in the London Marathon in 2017. 

The wreckage of the car carrying Kiptum and his coach after it collided with a large tree 

It is said that Kiptum lost control of his vehicle at Kaptagat area along the Eldama Ravine-Eldoret on his way back from Eldoret in Uasin Gishu County

'We put him in a special place in our heart because... within a short time he has done a lot for our sport.'

A female passenger, Sharon Chepkemoi, 32, was in the car but survived the accident. 

Kiptum, who was a father of two and the son of a runner and volleyball player, lost control of his vehicle at Kaptagat area along the Eldama Ravine-Eldoret on his way back from Eldoret in Uasin Gishu County.

Jackson Tuwei, President of Athletics Kenya, said the vehicle veered off the road into a ditch before hitting a big tree 60 metres from the main road.

According to Kenneth Kimaiyo - one of the first responders at the crash site - via Nation, Kiptum's body was found under the vehicle with the runner already dead, and Hakizimana still alive on a hill. 

He said he saw a man on a motorbike helping Chepkemoi at the scene, who was screaming for help and taken to Sanvanis Dispensary before being transferred to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret.

'We tried to save the coach because he was still breathing, but he died immediately,' Kimaiyo, who added that he had known Kiptum for a long time because he would often visit his shop in Chepkorio, said.

'Kiptum was laying under he car with his seat belt ripped and he was already dead,' he revealed.

Kiptum was hoping to be the first man to break the two-hour barrier for a marathon in Rotterdam in April

Before his death, Kiptum was aiming to make more history by becoming the first man to break the two-hour barrier in a ratified race - potentially at the Rotterdam Marathon this month. 

'I am going to Rotterdam to run fast,' he said before Christmas. 'I would like to grow further, and so, inevitably, break the barrier.' 

Kiptum was born and raised in Chepkorio in Kenya's Rift Valley. He worked on his family's cattle farm and started running at the age of 13, following local marathon runners on the trails close to his home.

Kiptum made his international debut as a teenager in 2019 when he finished fifth at the Lisbon Half Marathon. A year later, he acted as a pacemaker for Britain's Mo Farah when the Brit broke the one-hour world record on the track at a Diamond League meeting in Brussels.

Runners cross the London Marathon start line on Sunday morning 

'Kelvin was an amazingly talented athlete and had already achieved so much,' said Farah on Instagram. 'He truly had a special talent and I have no doubt he would have gone on to have had an incredible career.'

Farah's fellow Brit Emile Cairess, who finished sixth in London last year behind Kiptum, added: 'Many people thought they would never see a sub two-hour marathon in their lifetimes but since he came along, it's like it was just a given that he would do it because of his exceptional performances so far.

'It was almost certain that he would have done it. It's terribly sad and a real shame that we won't get to see him again or to attack that barrier.'

What was perhaps most extraordinary about Kiptum was the way he ran the second half of his marathons faster than his first. In London, he covered the second 13.1miles in 59:45. In Chicago, it was 59:47.

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