Zurich Marathon set to honour late Kiptum with 42-second silence
By Joel Sang, February 13, 2024
The Zurich Marathon organisers have confirmed their plans to honour the late Kelvin Kiptum before their race on Sunday, February 18, 2024.
Kiptum and his coach, Gervais Hakizimana, died after an accident they were involved in on Sunday, sending shockwaves across the entire athletic fraternity.
The marathon’s organizers have confirmed there will be 42 seconds of silence in honour of the marathon record breaker.
“On Sunday, before the start (8:30) of the Zurich Maratón Sevilla 24, we will pay tribute to Kelvin Kiptum, world record holder, and his coach, who died in a traffic accident in Kenya.
“We will observe 42 seconds of silence, as many as kilometres of the race, in his memory,” a statement by the race organisers posted on X, said.
Kiptum became an icon when he registered a new record in the marathon in Chicago last year. He was preparing to take part in April’s Amsterdam Marathon, where he had set a sub-two-hour time target.
He had also been named in Kenya’s provisional marathon squad ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Kiptum and Eliud Kipchoge were set for an epic battle in August, but after his death, much of the limelight will be on the latter.