Kelvin Kiptum
Kelvin Kiptum Cheruiyot (2 December 1999 – 11 February 2024) was a Kenyan long-distance runner who currently holds the marathon world record. As of 2024, he ran three of the seven fastest marathons in history and was ranked first among the world's men's marathon runners.
Kiptum at the 2023 London Marathon | ||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Kelvin Kiptum Cheruiyot | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | 2 December 1999 Chepsamo, Chepkorio, Kenya | |||||||||||||||||
| Died | 11 February 2024 (aged 24) near Kaptagat, Kenya | |||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | |||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 65 kg (143 lb) | |||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Asenath Cheruto Rotich | |||||||||||||||||
| Children | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Kenya | |||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||||||||
| Event | Long-distance running | |||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Gervais Hakizimana (2023–2024) | |||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||||||
| Highest world ranking | 1st (Marathon, 2023) | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal best |
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Medal record
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Kiptum won all three marathons he ran, including two top-tier World Marathon Majors (WMM) between December 2022 and October 2023. His times were three of the seven fastest marathon times, setting a course record of less than 2 hours 2 minutes in each race.
Kiptum ran the fastest-ever marathon debut at the 2022 Valencia Marathon, becoming only the third man in history to break two hours and two minutes and setting the then fourth-quickest time ever. He followed it up four months later with the second-fastest marathon in history at 2:01:25, 16 seconds outside the world record, at the 2023 London Marathon (WMM). At the 2023 Chicago Marathon six months later in October 2023, he broke the world record by 34 seconds with a time of 2:00:35, a mark ratified on 6 February 2024—five days before his death—by the international track federation World Athletics.