Athlétisme: Kelvin Kiptum, comète éternelle du marathon

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L'athlète kényan Kelvin Kiptum, mort dimanche dans un accident de la route, avait ébahi le monde de la course à pied en réussissant l'exploit de s'emparer du record du monde du marathon à Chicago en octobre dernier.  Encore inconnu il y a deux ans, Kiptum avait fait une irruption fracassante sur la planète marathon en s'emparant à son troisième essai seulement du record du monde, en 2 heures 00 minutes et 35 secondes à Chicago, plus rapide que son compatriote Eliud Kipchoge, légende de l'athlétisme. - L'info en continu  https://buzzplus.fr/ Infos, news & actualités - L'information internationale en direct.

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00:00 The Kenyan athlete Kelvin Kiptom, who died on Sunday in a road accident,

00:04 had stunned the world of running by succeeding in seizing the world record

00:09 for the marathon in Chicago last October.

00:12 Still unknown two years ago, Kiptom had made a striking leap on the planet

00:16 marathon by seizing his third attempt only of the world record

00:20 in 2 hours 0 minutes and 35 seconds in Chicago,

00:23 faster than his fellow Kipchoge, legend of athletics.

00:28 Kiptom's death at 24, when glory seemed promised to him this year,

00:33 is as brutal as his ascent.

00:36 Kiptom had predicted that he would try to be the first man to run an official marathon

00:40 in less than two hours in Rotterdam on April 14.

00:43 He was also the huge favorite of the Paris Olympic Games marathon,

00:47 July 26 to August 11.

00:50 Heir to Kipchoge.

00:52 The image will remain that of an athlete and launched, 1.78 meters 59 kg,

00:58 flying a powerful wave on the bitumen of Chicago last October,

01:02 accelerating even in the second part of the race,

01:04 where most marathon runners of all levels are flying.

01:08 All this allowing him to beat the world record,

01:11 then 2 hours 1 minute 9 seconds by Kipchoge,

01:14 less than a year after his first attempt on the distance in Valencia, Spain,

01:18 2 hours 1 minute 53 seconds in December 2022.

01:22 Meanwhile, Kiptom had confirmed his extraordinary talent

01:25 by crushing the venerable London Marathon in April 2023 in 2 hours 1 minute 25,

01:30 then the second best time in history.

01:33 His trajectory, "crazy", was opposed to that of the greatest runner in history,

01:38 Eliud Kipchoge, against whom he has never run.

01:41 Kipchoge, 39 years old, double Olympic champion

01:45 and now former world record holder, had triumphed over him after a career built by stage,

01:50 first on the track until the age of 27.

01:53 He aims for a third Olympic title in Paris this summer.

01:57 Kelvin Kiptom trained near his hometown,

02:00 Cheb Corio, west, about forty kilometers from El Doré,

02:04 at the place of the running in Pied Kenyan.

02:07 He was guided in particular by the Rwandan Gervais Akizimana,

02:10 a French resident, a national level runner,

02:13 whom he had met Kiptom during his training stays in Kenya,

02:16 who also found him dead on Sunday in the road accident.

02:20 A third occupant, injured, was hospitalized.

02:24 The Kenyan police did not indicate his identity.

02:28 Run, eat, sleep.

02:31 When we did coast sessions in the forest near his home,

02:34 he was small but followed us, barefoot, after keeping the goats and sheep.

02:39 It was in 2013, he had not yet really started the race on foot,

02:43 said Gervais Akizimana at AFP in October.

02:47 Kiptom had started running regularly in 2016.

02:51 In 2019, he had completed two very fast semi-marathons in two weeks,

02:56 60, 48 in Copenhagen, then 59, 53 in Belfort, France,

03:02 when Gervais Akizimana had offered him to coach him for the marathon,

03:06 their collaboration took off during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

03:11 By force of training, Kiptom ran more than 250 km a week,

03:16 and sometimes more than 300, even at very high levels,

03:20 assured his coach, who was talking to his runner in Swahili and English.

03:25 In Sheppkoreo, we live together.

03:28 He rents me a room.

03:30 It's very close to his home, but it's better that he doesn't come home,

03:33 he focuses, there is the family, the children.

03:36 You have to shut up.

03:38 He only runs, eats, sleeps, added the coach,

03:42 about his athlete, entirely dedicated to his quest.

03:46 "Kelvin is a boy who likes to communicate, who listens a lot,"

03:50 appreciated Mr. Akizimana.

03:52 The Rwandan had made full use of his athlete,

03:56 world record sign in hand in Chicago last October.

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