Kelvin Kiptum of Kenya celebrates after successful the 2023 Chicago Marathon skilled males’s division and setting a world document marathon time of two:00:35 at Grant Park on Oct. 8, 2023, in Chicago.

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Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Kelvin Kiptum of Kenya celebrates after successful the 2023 Chicago Marathon skilled males’s division and setting a world document marathon time of two:00:35 at Grant Park on Oct. 8, 2023, in Chicago.

Michael Reaves/Getty Images

The man who set the document for the quickest marathon ever, Kelvin Kiptum, died in a automotive crash in his native Kenya on Sunday, the sports activities governing physique World Athletics said. He was 24.

Kiptum shocked the operating world final yr when he blazed by way of the Chicago Marathon in 2 hours and 35 seconds. World Athletics had simply ratified his historic time this previous week.

It was additionally the primary time an athlete had damaged 2 hours and 1 minute in a record-eligible marathon.

Kiptum died within the crash alongside his coach, Gervais Hakizimana.

“We are shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the devastating loss of Kelvin Kiptum and his coach, Gervais Hakizimana,” World Athletics president Sebastian Coe stated in an announcement.

“An incredible athlete leaving an incredible legacy, we will miss him dearly,” Coe added.

Kiptum’s record-setting exhibiting in Chicago bested the earlier document held by his fellow Kenyan, Eliud Kipchoge, who completed the 2022 Berlin Marathon in 2:01:09.

“I knew I was coming for a course record, but a world record — I am so happy,” Kiptum said after the race final yr. “A world record was not on my mind today, but I knew one day I would be a world record-holder.”

The celebrity racer was slated to run within the Rotterdam Marathon in April, indicating he would even attempt to break the two-hour barrier throughout the race.

Kiptum leaves behind his spouse, Asenath Rotich, and their two youngsters, in line with Olympics.com.