Kelvin Kiptum during a press conference at Weston Hotel in Nairobi on October 10, 2023.
Kevin Kiptum’s, Samson Cheruiyot, a year since his son died in a road accident says that National Police Service have never released the accident report for him to know exactly what happened on that fateful day.
He also said Kiptum’s vehicle still lies at the Kaptagat Police Station and they have not been able to follow up on the insurance claim.
“The police have never revealed to me what exatly caused the accident that took my lovely son from me. Not knowing what exactly happened is very painful,” said Cheruiyot in an interview with Nation Sport on Sunday.
And Kiptum’s mum Mary Kangogo still sells second hand clothes for a living. Had her son been alive she would have been transporting her wares in a personally-owned Toyota Probox.
Mary said that the road accident that robbed them of their son and only child has left them suffering for the last one year.
“My son saw how we were struggling and after competing and doing well internationally, he promised me that I would soon be driving my own car to the market. I was so happy but it remains a dream because I’m still using boda boda to take my wares to the market,” said the mother.
Samson Cheruiyot, father to the late Kelvin Kiptum, with his wife outside their makeshift kitchen in Cherunya, Uasin Gishu County, on February 9, 2025.
Kiptum died on February 11 last year, aged 24, following a road accident along the Eldoret-Eldama Ravine road some few kilometres from their rental houses in Chepkorio in Elgeyo Marakwet.
Kiptum’s Rwandan coach Gervais Hakizimana also died while a female passenger survived.
Disagreements between Kiptum’s parents, his wife and administrators of the late athlete’s estate have led to freezing of the marathon record holder’s financial assets estimated to be around Sh200m.
Kiptum's extraordinary achievements in marathon in such a short time solidified his status as a legend in the world of distance running.
The world was out there for him to claim more conquest but it was not to be.
Nicholas Koech, a coach-based in Kaptagat in Elgeyo Marakwet County, remembers a young man who was always focused and eager to write history.
Koech used to team up with Hakizimana and Nahashon Kibon and monitor the athletes along the road during intense training sessions where the runners operated as a pack.
From left: Kelvin Kiptum's widow Asenath Rotich and his parents Samson Cheruiyot and Mary Kangogo during the athlete's burial service in Keiyo South, Elgeyo Marakwet County, on February 23, 2024.
“Kiptum was a polite athlete who always listened to instructions and it is so painful we lost him as the world needed him most. Everybody was waiting to see what he had in store, especially at the Rotterdam Marathon in April and the Olympic Games in July in Paris, France where we were sure that he would win a medal. One year on, we are just left with his memories,” said Koech.
Novestus Kirwa, who was training with Kiptum for the record attempt at the Rotterdam Marathon that never was, said he was approached by the Golazo Right Here Management to assist the marathon king in training and strategizing for the attack the world record.
“What Kiptum left me with is the skills on how to train hard and the determination to pursue your goal to the end. Kiptum was an extraordinary person. I remember he was supposed to do 260km per week but he decided to add 10 more kilometres in what he said would bring a difference by the end of the training sessions,” said Kirwa.
He added that they were almost at the peak of their preparations before the misfortune struck. There mission was for Kiptum to run sub 2 hours.
Family of the late marathoner Kelvin Kiptum (from left) wife Asenath Rotich, father Samson Cheruiyot and mother Mary Kangongo view the body of thier son before his burial service held at Chepkorio Showground on February 23, 2024.
Kirwa would later pace at the Rotterdam Marathon rather than run the full marathon as he had earlier announced.
“I wanted to honour my friend Kiptum but I lost a lot of time mourning him and that affected my training. I wasn’t ready to do a full marathon and after discussing with my management, we settled for pacing where I reached the 30km mark before dropping out,” he said.
The soft-spoken athlete would later compete at the Eindhoven Marathon and is now preparing to race in the Rotterdam Marathon in the Netherlands in April.
“We shall miss him. We were a family. Death robbed us of a great man who came and showed us how a marathon race is run and within a short period he was gone,” said Kirwa.
