Kelvin Kiptum

Marathon world record holder before his death.

Kelvin Kiptum was a Kenyan distance runner who exploded onto the marathon scene as one of the most exciting prospects the sport had ever seen, making his debut at the 2022 Valencia Marathon with the fastest time ever recorded by a first-time marathoner. Kiptum won both the London and Chicago Marathons in 2023, two of the most prestigious races in the sport, and delivered the performance of his career at the 2023 Chicago Marathon, shattering the world record with a time of 2:00:35, becoming the first person to run an official, record-eligible marathon in under 2 hours and 1 minute. Kiptum had already run three of the seven fastest marathon times ever recorded despite competing in only three career marathons, and was widely regarded as the overwhelming favourite to win gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics, with plans announced to attempt the first sub-two-hour official marathon in Rotterdam that April. Kiptum was killed on 11 February 2024, at age 24, in a car crash in western Kenya alongside his coach, Gervais Hakizimana, when the vehicle he was driving veered off the road and struck a tree. His death, just days after World Athletics had ratified his world record, was mourned throughout the athletics world as the loss of one of the sport's most extraordinary emerging talents.

Aggressive front-running marathon style

Promising marathon talent whose career was cut short

• Marathon WR 2:00:35 (Chicago 2023)
• London Marathon champion 2023