Sports

Kenyan world marathon record holder, Kelvin Kiptum, coach, killed in fatal car accident

Published

3 months ago

February 12, 2024

Kenyan marathon world record holder, Kelvin Kiptum, and his coach, Gervais Hakizimana, were on Sunday night killed in a road accident outside the Rift Valley town of Eldoret, Kenyan police have confirmed.

According to a statement by Elgeyo Marakwet, the County Police Commander, Peter Mulinge, on Monday, the 24-year-old athlete who was driving a Toyota Premio, and the coach died at the scene of the crash, while a third occupant of the vehicle survived with serious injuries.

“He (Kiptum) lost control, veered off the road, entered into a ditch 60 meters away and hit a big tree. The accident happened around 11 p.m. local time,” Mulinge said.

Kiptum became a world marathon record holder when he set a time of 2:00:35 in the Chicago Marathon in October last year which was only ratified by World Athletics last week.

He had only switched to running the marathon from shorter distance races a year before setting that record pace and improved his personal best time by 50 seconds to beat the 2:01:09 record set by fellow Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, widely considered the greatest marathoner of all time.

Kiptum was tipped by many to be the successor to Kipchoge, and a possible contender to run the marathon in under 2 hours.

Kiptum broke the course record for the London Marathon last year, winning the men’s event in the second-fastest marathon in history, crossing the finish line in two hours, one minute and 25 seconds.

His coach, Hakizimana, 36, was a former professional athlete from Rwanda who participated in different races from the 5,000 meter to the half marathon.

World Athletics president Seb Coe, who expressed his grief in a statement, said:

“We are shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the devastating loss of Kelvin Kiptum and his coach, Gervais Hakizimana.

“On behalf of all World Athletics, we send our deepest condolences to their families, friends, teammates and the Kenyan nation.

“It was only earlier this week in Chicago, the place where Kelvin set his extraordinary marathon World Record, that I was able to officially ratify his historic time.

“An incredible athlete leaving an incredible legacy, we will miss him dearly.”

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Sports

Zambia’s women national team coach face new sexual assault allegation

Published

11 hours ago

May 16, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Zambia women national team coach, Bruce Mwape, is facing new allegations of sexual assault and misconduct at the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, prompting an investigation by world football governing body, FIFA.

Mwape who is currently facing allegations of sexual harassment after some of his players laid accusations against him, has been accused by a female FIFA contractor of inappropriately touching her breast during the tournament.

A report on the Fifa website disclosed that the body received an official complaint accusing the 64-year-old Mwape of touching the breast of a FIFA contractor from New Zealand.

The complainant is quoted to have told Fifa officials that Mwape had inappropriately touched her breasts in a suggestive manner.

“I remember him putting his hand on my shoulder to say ‘Good morning,’ but then he went again and wiped his hand straight down the front, obviously touching my boob,” the contractor reportedly said.

“It happened so quickly. It felt wrong to me but I also questioned whether it had just been a mistake. But after that, his relationship with me was very different. So I think he knew what he had done was not appropriate,” the unnamed contractor added.

The incident, according to the report, allegedly occurred while the team was staying at an Auckland hotel before their match against Spain.

Sports

Botswanan Tebogo hits at Kenyan Omanyala over claims of being African sprint king

Published

2 days ago

May 15, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Botswanan sprint sensation,
Letsile Tebogo, has hit back at Kenyan 100m champion, Ferdinand Omanyala, over claims that he is the king of African sprint.

Omanyala, in an Track and Field network in April, had laid claims to being the true king of Africa in sprints having risen to prominence in 2021 when he set the record as the fastest man in the continent when he ran 9.77 at the 3rd edition of the Absa Kip Keino classic.

The following year, Omanyala won the 2022 African title in Mauritius, as well as the 100m gold at the Commonwealth Games, feats he believes bestows on him the title of Africa’s king of the sprint.

Though it has not been all rosy for the 28-year-old Omanyala as he has faltered at some big stages having failed to make the final of the Olympic games in Tokyo in 2021 and finished a disappointing seventh at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest last year, he still believes he is head and shoulders above other African stars.

On the other hand, 20-year-old Tebogo has already scored medals in both the 100 and 200m races at the highest stage, which has given him the right to question Omanyala’s claims

“I do not have anything to say. Everything will reveal itself as time goes on,” Tebogo said in an interview with the same Track and Field network on Tuesday.

“To me, it does not make sense if you are the African champion, but where it mattered the most, he could not step in,” he added.

Tebogo who has proven his mettle in the 200m which he claims is the easiest race to compete in, believes it should also be used as a gauge to test the fastest men in the continent apart from just the 100m.

“The 100 is very tactical. Any day can be your day. I believe we should include both races,” he added.