Kelvin Kiptum, 24, was driving the crashed car himself.
Kenyan marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum and his Rwandan coach Gervais as Hakizima died in a car accident late Saturday night, authorities said, according to news agencies AFP and Reuters.
According to the police, Kiptum was driving the car. The party was traveling from Kaptaget to Eldoret in western Kenya when the car apparently overturned. The third person in the car was injured. She is a woman.
Kiptum, 24, ran a world record time of 2:00:35 at the Chicago Marathon last October. He improved the previous record held by his compatriot Eliud Kipchoge by 34 seconds.
It was only Kiptum's third marathon. He also won the Valencia Marathon in 2022 and the London Marathon last April.
Kiptum had run three of the seven fastest marathons in history.
Kiptum had not competed since his world record run in October. He was scheduled to run the Rotterdam Marathon in April with the goal of breaking the ghostly two-hour mark.
Kelvin Kiptum celebrated his world record at the Chicago Marathon on October 8, 2023.
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