Kelvin Kiptum held the marathon world record at 2:00:35 when he died in a car crash in February 2024 at the age of 24. He ran three marathons and won all three, none slower than 2:01:53.
Kiptum was born in Chepsamo, near Chepkorio in Kenya's Elgeyo-Marakwet County, on December 2, 1999. He trained under the Rwandan coach Gervais Hakizimana and reached the marathon without the track career most Kenyan road runners build first. His debut came at Valencia in December 2022, where he ran 2:01:53, the fastest first marathon anyone had run. He followed it at London in April 2023 with 2:01:25, at the time the second-fastest marathon in history.
Chicago in October 2023 produced the record. Kiptum finished in 2:00:35 and took 34 seconds off the mark Eliud Kipchoge set in Berlin the previous year. World Athletics ratified the time on February 6, 2024.
Kiptum and Hakizimana were killed on February 11, 2024, when their car left the road near Kaptagat. Kiptum had entered the Rotterdam Marathon that April, where he planned to attack the two-hour barrier.