Kenya Mourns Marathon Star

Hundreds of mourners paid an emotional tribute to Kenya's world marathon record-holder Kelvin Kiptum, ahead of his funeral in the nation's athletics heartland.

Kiptum, 24, was killed on February 11 in a road accident near the Rift Valley town of Eldoret, leaving Kenya and the world of athletics reeling.

On the eve of the funeral, Kiptum's coffin, encircled with flowers, was carried in a hearse through Eldoret, some people watching in silence, others singing hymns.

His mother Mary Kangongo and widow Asenath Rotich wept inconsolably at the mortuary as the wooden coffin was loaded into the black hearse.

Kiptum, a father of two, is to be laid to rest in Naiberi, near Eldoret, where the government is building a new home for the national hero's family.

Kiptum burst onto the marathon scene in 2022 and shattered the world record in Chicago in October last year.

He ran the distance in two hours and 35 seconds, slicing 34 seconds off the previous fastest time, set by his Kenyan rival, the marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge.

World Athletics head Sebastian Coe, who arrived in Eldoret, said he was mourning "an extraordinary young life" in his prime.

Police said Kiptum was driving near Eldoret on February 11 when his car veered off the road into a ditch and hit a tree.

The results of an autopsy showed that Kiptum had suffered severe head injuries.

The young athlete had competed in only three marathons, recording three of the all-time fastest seven times for the event.

He was favorite to take gold at this year's Paris Olympics, where he was expected to go head-to-head with Kipchoge for the first time.

Known for maintaining a grueling training schedule that sometimes topped 300 kilometers a week, Kiptum had only recently announced he was hoping to smash the mythic two-hour mark in Rotterdam in April.