NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum, who would become a superstar of long-distance running and was one of the top contenders for gold at the Paris Olympics this year, died along with his coach in a car accident in Kenya.

Her vehicle was the only one involved in the crash late Sunday, and Kiptum was driving the car when it veered off the road and into a ditch before crashing into a tree, police said.

Kenyan Kiptum was 24 years old and one of the most exciting young road running talents in years, having broken the world record in just his third appearance at an elite marathon. His record, set last year at the Chicago Marathon, was only confirmed last week by the international athletics governing body World Athletics.

His death reverberated in Kenya, where runners are the biggest sports stars. Kenyans have also become accustomed to tragic stories about their star athletes after some died in road accidents, other accidents and cases of domestic violence.

“He was only 24,” Kenyan President William Ruto said in a statement offering his condolences. “Kiptum was our future.”

Kiptum and his Rwandan trainer Gervais Hakizimana died in the accident around 11 p.m., police said. It happened near the town of Kaptagat in western Kenya, in the heart of the high mountain region known as a training base for the best long-distance runners from Kenya and around the world.

Kiptum was born and raised in the area.

A third person, a 24-year-old woman, was also in the car and was taken to a hospital with serious injuries, police said. Kiptum and Hakizimana died at the scene.

Athletes and family members, including Kiptum’s father, gathered in the hospital morgue where the bodies of Kiptum and his coach were taken. One of the athletes, former women’s steeplechase world champion Milcah Chemos, found it difficult to speak as she burst into tears.

“I have no words to explain the loss of Kelvin,” she said.

Kenneth Kimaiyo, a friend of Kiptum, said he arrived at the scene shortly after the accident and Kiptum was thrown from the car. Photos showed the silver car with a badly damaged roof and a crushed windshield.

Kiptum became the first man to run the marathon in under 2 hours and 1 minute in an official race when he set the world record of 2:00.35 in Chicago in October, equaling the mark of fellow Kenyan and marathon great Eliud Kipchoge surpassed the reigning two-time Olympic champion.

Kiptum and Kipchoge were expected to put on a thrilling all-Kenyan battle for marathon gold in Paris, and Kiptum was due to start his season in April at the Rotterdam Marathon, which would have been his first event since breaking the world record.

“An athlete who had a lifetime ahead of him to achieve incredible greatness,” Kipchoge said in a tribute message.

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe was one of the first to offer his condolences in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.

“We are shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the devastating loss of Kelvin Kiptum and his coach Gervais Hakizimana,” Coe wrote.

“It was only earlier this week in Chicago, the place where Kelvin set his extraordinary marathon world record, that I was able to officially confirm his historic time. He is an incredible athlete who has left an incredible legacy. We will miss him very much.”

David Rudisha, Kenya’s two-time Olympic 800-meter champion, wrote on X that Kiptum’s death was “a great loss.”

Kiptum found immediate success when he ran the fastest time ever by a marathon debutant at the 2022 Valencia Marathon. The following year he won the London and Chicago races, two of the most prestigious marathons in the world. He set a new course record at the London Marathon last April and months later became the fastest marathon runner in the world.

Although he was young and new to the circuit, he had already completed three of the seven fastest marathon times of all time and was considered a rare talent.

But he was also the latest Kenyan star to die in devastating circumstances.

All-Africa Games silver medalist David Lelei died in a car accident in 2010. Marathon runner Francis Kiplagat was among five people who died in an accident in 2018. Nicholas Bett, who won gold in the 400-meter hurdles at the 2015 World Championships, also died in a car accident in 2018.

Rudisha, former 10,000-meter world champion Moses Tanui and Olympic silver medalist Paul Tergat have all survived serious road accidents in the East African country.

Samuel Wanjiru, the 2008 Olympic marathon champion and also considered one of the greats, died in 2011 at the age of 24 after falling from a balcony at his home in Kenya.

Kenyans were perhaps most shocked when Agnes Tirop, a multiple cross-country world champion, was stabbed to death in her home in 2021, allegedly by her husband. He was accused of murder.

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Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa.

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AP Africa News: https://apnews.com/hub/africa