With a country still shocked by the death of marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum in a traffic accident, a group of Kenyan deputies decided to demand that from now on their athletes receive VIP treatment.
The measure they intend to promote would affect those who do not benefit from support programs or large infrastructure in this African country.
Kiptum, 24, died on Sunday night after suffering an accident, in which his coach Gervais Hakizimana also died, on a road in the Rift Valley, not far from the young athletics star's usual training location.
The death of Kiptum, who was driving the accident car, has shocked a country that is proud of the successes of its athletes in medium and long distance events, but that also questions
the training conditions of these athletes
.
"The Ministry of Sports must take measures (...),
it must take our athletes seriously
," claimed Gideon Kimaiyo, deputy of Keiyo del Sur, Kiptum's home constituency, after parliamentarians from this region raised a minute of silence before Tuesday's session.
"Some athletes are young and have promising careers, but they are abandoned to their fate," he deplored.
The front pages of the newspapers talk about the tragedy.
Photo: AFP
"
Our athletes must be treated like VIPs and benefit from security
," also claimed Phelix Odiwuor, a member of the opposition in Langata, on the outskirts of Nairobi.
"All our high-level athletes who represent the country and who bring us all the distinctions are forgotten after receiving the medals," he considered.
Kiptum impressed the world of athletics when last October,
in Chicago
, in the third marathon he ran,
he broke the record with a time of 2:00.35
, surpassing the mark of his compatriot and legend of the discipline Eliud Kipchoge by 34 seconds. .
The young athlete, married and father of two children, was called to be one of the stars of the Paris Games
and had announced his intention to run the marathon under two hours on April 14 in Rotterdam, an unthinkable milestone. a few years ago.
"At 24 years old, Kelvin Kiptum had achieved what many other athletes cannot even dream of," said Ng'elechei Caroline Jeptoo, representative of Elgeyo Marakwet county, in the Rift Valley, more than 400 km northwest, on Tuesday. From the capital.
TOPSHOT - A member of the public looks at the wreckage of the saloon car in which world marathon record-holder Kelvin Kiptum, and his Rwandan coach, Gervais Hakizimana, were traveling before they were involved in a fatal road crash, at the Kaptagat police station , near Eldoret town on February 12, 2024. Tributes poured in on Monday for Kenyan running sensation Kelvin Kiptum after the marathon world record-holder was killed in a car crash at the age of 24. The death of Kiptum just months before the Paris Olympics has shocked Kenya and the world of athletics, with his rival, the legendary marathon runner Eliud Kipchoge saying he was "deeply saddened".
(Photo by AFP)
"He was a ray of hope not only for the inhabitants of his village, but for many people in this country and beyond," he added.
Police are investigating the circumstances of an accident in which a third passenger in the car was injured.
According to the first elements of the investigation, it was Kiptum who was driving towards Eldoret "when he lost control and left the road", rolling about 60 meters "until he collided with a large tree."
Kenyan track athlete Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon reacts after viewing body of Kenya's marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum who died in a road accident, at the Racecourse Mortuary, in the Rift Valley town of Eldoret, Kenya February 12, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer
In Eldoret, the main city of the Rift Valley, the athletes who trained this Tuesday did not hide their excitement.
"I ask the government to hold a farewell ceremony for Kelvin, a national funeral," Daniel Simiu Ebenyo, world 10,000 meters runner-up, told AFP.
"It is painful for the athletics family to lose someone in a traffic accident, a friend and such a promising athlete," he lamented.
It is not the first time that Kenyan athletics is in mourning for one of its athletes
.
Kiptum's traumatic death is reminiscent of that of another great Kenyan marathoner and Olympic champion in Beijing 2008,
Samuel Wanjiru, who lost his life at the same age after falling from a balcony under strange circumstances
.
A coroner determined that the athlete was hit "with a blunt object" before falling into the void.
In October 2021, one of the promises of women's athletics Agnes Tirop was found stabbed to death in her home.
Her husband was arrested for murder.
Others died in road accidents, like 2015 400m hurdles world champion Nicholas Bett in 2018, or came close to death like double 800m world champion (2012, 2016) David Rudisha, in August. of 2019.