World record marathon runner Kelvin Kiptum died on Sunday. Kenya has been celebrating the life and explosive career of the 24-year old marathon runner.
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Kenya has been celebrating the career and life of marathon runner Kelvin Kiptum, who went from borrowing running shoes to breaking world records. Kenyans are mourning his sudden death, as Michael Kaloki reports from Nairobi.
MICHAEL KALOKI: Kelvin Kiptum literally exploded onto the running scene, from the Valencia Marathon 14 months ago…
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED RACE COMMENTATOR #1: Kelvin Kiptum is the winner. Wow. What a run, Richard.
KALOKI: …To last year’s London Marathon…
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED RACE COMMENTATOR #2: Kelvin Kiptum, what a superstar.
KALOKI: …And finally, the Chicago Marathon in October.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED RACE COMMENTATOR #3: An amazing effort by Kelvin Kiptum for a new world record at the…
KALOKI: He was an extraordinary athlete destined for greatness, his goal within his grasp – shattering the two-hour marathon barrier. But this wasn’t to be. On Sunday, Kiptum and his Rwandan coach Garvais Hakizimana were killed in a road accident in Eldoret, Kenya. He was 24. The news was a huge blow to a country that greatly prides itself in its athletes. In a statement, Kenya’s President William Ruto called Kiptum, I quote, “extraordinary sportsman who had left an extraordinary mark on the globe.”
Born in Chepkorio, a rural area in Kenya’s Rift Valley region, he grew up as an only child, herding cattle as a young boy, harboring dreams of becoming an athlete like his cousin. His father said that when Kelvin began his rise in the world of athletics, he had always promised his parents he would build them a decent house to live in.
(SOUNDBITE OF BIRDS CHIRPING)
KALOKI: I’m standing on the slopes of Ngong Hills in Kenya’s Kajiado County. This area is about 13 miles…
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