The fastest marathon runner in history, who passed away in a vehicle accident in February, will have a memorial service.
With a course record of 2:01:25, Kiptum won the London Marathon the previous year, barely 16 seconds shy of Eliud Kipchoge’s previous world record.
After that, in October of last year, Kiptum crushed Kipchoge’s record of 2:01:09 at the Chicago Marathon, clocking in a breathtaking 2:00:35 to become the first person to run a sub-2:01 time for 26.2 miles.
Kiptum was the overwhelming favorite to win the gold medal in the Olympic marathon in Paris prior to this season, and there were even hopes he might surpass the two-hour mark from the April 14 Rotterdam Marathon.
But on February 11, the Kenyan, 24, and his coach, Gervais Hakizimana, perished tragically in an automobile accident. Tributes began to come in from all over the world as the shocking news broke in the sports world.
For this reason, the London Marathon has chosen to pay tribute to Kiptum prior to the start of the top races on Sunday.
A 30-second round of applause will be held, followed by the playing of a video featuring Kiptum’s life and performances and a speech from London Marathon announcer Geoff Wightman. But Kiptum’s family will not be there.
Hugh Brasher, the London Marathon’s event director, adds, “We want to celebrate the man.” In light of what the BBC is doing, we will be working together on this as well.
“Geoff will say a few things to honor Kiptum and to remind people of his brief but meaningful life.”
Tigist Assefa, the current world record holder for women’s marathons, is expected to make a big impression in London. She raced 2:11:53 at the Berlin Marathon last year, shockingly cutting Brigid Kosgei’s previous world record of 2:14:04 by two minutes and eleven seconds.
In addition to Assefa and Kosgei, the Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir, the 2019 world champion Ruth Chepngetich, and the 2022 London winner Yalemzerf Yehualaw will compete against each other in London.
This indicates that three of the past four fastest female competitors are competing.
Brasher continues, “I believe that what she [Assefa] accomplished in Berlin changed my perception of what would likely occur in my lifetime.
Do I think a woman can run a sub-2:10 time and that it will happen in my lifetime? Indeed. I go back to Paula Radcliffe’s 2003 run of 2:15:25, which set a world record that lasted for sixteen years.
“These things happen in cycles, and there was a time when Paula’s record stood for a very long time. These days, we have these new athletes whose focus is more on the future than the past.
Talk about any marathon performance that breaks records.
