RIP: Marathon WR Kelvin Kiptum has died in a car accident at the age of 24

Now some are born to fly high

Some are born to follow

Some are born to touch the sky

And some walk in the hollow

But as I watched your body fall

I knew that really you had won

For your grave was not the earth

But the reflection of the sun

Obviously saddened by Kiptum's death — interestingly I was watching highlights of the race in which he set his record a few hours ago.

I also found out a few seconds ago that his coach was either of Burundian or Rwandan ancestry, going by the name (Hakizimana); that's quite interesting.

I thought that his intense training meant he was nearly at his peak but I didn't expect it to be like that at all

it still doesn't seem real

What caused Kelvin to lose control of the vehicle? Does anyone know?

Horrible news. No words.

What is your MF'in problem? Show some basic decorum. A man is dead. Medals don't really mean jack right now.

Rest in peace

Omg, such a shock. I feel numb. The Olympics won’t be the same . It reminds me of Prefontaine.

Man I can't believe it

TBH I was a bigger fan of Kiptum than Kipchoge. He ran more miles and didn't have all the Nike marketing around him

He was too humble to say he could beat Kipchoge but we know that's probably what woulda happened this summer

Now we won't get to see it

Unbelievable. He and his family had so much to look forward to. so so sad

What does it matter?

It is not. The biggest news organisation in Kenya, and East Africa, is the Nation Media Group.

Also, if the mods want to remove this post because it is apparently "off-topic or derailing", perhaps they should accompany it with the one I am responding to.

I don't even know how to process my thoughts right now.

I admit, when Kelvin came out of nowhere at Valencia and then crushed the London WR, I was a big Kipchoge fan who didn't want to see him passed. It was only at Chicago where I first let myself appreciate Kelvin's greatness. And now I feel like an idiot because I missed out on two marathons where I could've sat back and admired his talent. I just had no idea those would he two of the three marathons he ever got to run. Life is brutal man.

Will we ever see someone so fast from 30k to 40k again? I'm not sure we will. Gosh I feel so lost right now, I've never been so impacted by a celebrity death.

RIP Kelvin, and thank you for sharing your talent with the world.

If you want to get into an esoteric discussion on the value of medals--or as the removed post, comparing Kipchoge to Kiptum--then that's going to be discussion made without me. Have fun. My education is just fine, thanks.

eliud kipchoge never publicly congratulated kelvin kiptum on breaking the marathon world record. nor has he shown any praise for him (akin to jakob ingebrigtsen ignoring josh kerr)