Kelvin Kiptum

Kelvin Kiptum
Kiptum at the 2023 London Marathon
Personal information
Full nameKelvin Kiptum Cheruiyot
Born(1999-12-02)2 December 1999
Chepsamo, Chepkorio, Kenya
Died11 February 2024(2024-02-11) (aged 24)
near Kaptagat, Kenya
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Weight65 kg (143 lb)[1]
SpouseAsenath Cheruto Rotich
Children2
Sport
CountryKenya
SportAthletics
EventLong-distance running
Coached byGervais Hakizimana (2023–2024)[2][3]
Achievements and titles
Highest world ranking1st (Marathon, 2023)[4]
Personal best
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Kenya
World Marathon Majors
Gold medal – first place 2023 London Marathon
Gold medal – first place 2023 Chicago Marathon

Kelvin Kiptum Cheruiyot (2 December 1999 – 11 February 2024) was a Kenyan long-distance runner who currently holds the marathon world record. As of 2024, he holds three of the seven fastest marathons in history,[5] and was ranked first among the world's men's marathon runners at the time of his death.[6]

Kiptum won all three marathons he ran, including two top-tier World Marathon Majors (WMM) between December 2022 and October 2023. His times were three of the seven fastest marathon times,[7] setting a course record of less than 2 hours 2 minutes in each race.

Kiptum ran the fastest-ever marathon debut at the 2022 Valencia Marathon, becoming only the third man in history to break two hours and two minutes and setting the then fourth-quickest time ever.[8] He followed it up four months later with the second-fastest marathon in history at 2:01:25, 16 seconds outside the world record, at the 2023 London Marathon (WMM).[9] At the 2023 Chicago Marathon six months later in October 2023, he broke the world record by 34 seconds with a time of 2:00:35, a mark ratified on 6 February 2024—five days before his death—by the international track federation World Athletics.[10]

He and his coach died in a car crash on 11 February 2024 in Kaptagat, a settlement in rural Kenya used as a training place for long-distance runners. Local police said that Kiptum lost control of his vehicle and veered off the road, hitting a tree.

  1. ^ a b "Tilastopaja Oy Track and field statistics | Kelvin Kiptum". Tilastopaja.eu. Archived from the original on 9 June 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  2. ^ Gremmel, Robin (8 October 2023). "Kiptum's Coach Fears Intense Training Will Shorten Record Career". Barron's. Agence France-Presse. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  3. ^ "Marathon: Gervais Hakizimana, galérien du bitume et coach du nouveau roi Kelvin Kiptum". France 24. Agence France-Presse. 9 October 2023. Archived from the original on 12 October 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  4. ^ "World Rankings | Men's Marathon (Half Marathon-25km-30km)". Archived from the original on 30 December 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  5. ^ "Marathon Men". worldathletics.org. World Athletics. n.d. Archived from the original on 12 February 2024. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  6. ^ "Men's Marathon (Half Marathon-25km-30km)". World Athletics. Archived from the original on 13 February 2024. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
  7. ^ Douglas, Scott (3 February 2024). "Here's How Fast the World's Best Marathoners Can Run". Runner's World. Archived from the original on 12 February 2024. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
  8. ^ Rathborn, Jack (4 December 2022). "Amane Beriso and Kelvin Kiptum pull off surprise wins in blazing times at Valencia Marathon". The Independent. Archived from the original on 5 December 2022. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBC_20230425 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Simiyu, Wycliffe W. Njororai (13 February 2024). "Kelvin Kiptum: the Kenyan runner who redefined what it takes to win marathons". The Conversation. Archived from the original on 14 February 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2024.