Kelvin Kiptum, Kenya’s history-maker whose bright star shone all too briefly | Ben Bloom
The Kenyan world record holder’s tragic death at the age of 24 leaves us with unanswered questions over his vast potential
Late last year, in the immediate aftermath of Kelvin Kiptum’s extraordinary exploits on the streets of Chicago, his coach Gervais Hakizimana voiced fears over the new marathon world record holder’s longevity. “He’s training a lot,” warned Hakizimana, explaining how Kiptum would not take a single rest day from running for up to a month at a time.
“At this rate he is in danger of breaking,” he added. “I offered him to slow down the pace but he doesn’t want to. I told him that in five years he’d be done, that he needs to calm down to last in athletics.”