LONDON (AFP) – London Marathon organisers will honour the late Kelvin Kiptum with 30 seconds of applause in tribute to the Kenyan ahead of Sunday's elite men's race.
Kiptum's death at the age of just 24 in a late-night car accident in February near his home in Eldoret, the high-altitude training hub in the Rift Valley, western Kenya, stunned the world of athletics.
He won last year's London Marathon and a few months later became the first man to run the marathon under two hours and one minute in Chicago.
Kiptum will be remembered at this weekend's Marathon in the English capital, a race he won on three occasions and with a record time of two hours, one minute and 25 seconds in 2023.
"We will be having a tribute to him on the start line for what he did in the incredible short time he was in our sport," London Marathon race director Hugh Brasher said on Wednesday.
"Three wins out of three events, he was our course record holder and he then became the world record holder in Chicago.
"It will be 30 seconds of applause. We want to celebrate the man. There will be a VT (video tape) played and we will be doing this in conjunction with the BBC in terms of what they'll be doing."
Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe will be among the high-profile figures taking part in the run on Sunday.
The British billionaire is then planning to make a quick trip across London to Wembley, where United will be playing Coventry in the FA Cup semi-finals.
"I think Jim probably doesn't need a huge amount of advice from me on running the London Marathon," said Brasher.
"He has done seven London Marathons and that is three more than me!"