5 Kenyan Athletes Who Died When Their Careers Were In Prime
No doubt Kenya has produced one of the elite athletes across the globe, despite impressing in the World stage, the country has lost some of the athletes prematurely. On Sunday night 11th February, 2024, Kenya was thrown into the deep mourning after devastating news of passing on of marathon record holder Kelvin Kiptum through a road accident.
Kiptum met his sudden death alongside his Rwandan coach Gervais Hakizimana along Eldoret-Kaptagat road at around 11:00PM with base commandant stating that Kiptum was the driver of a Toyota Premio which “lost control and rolled”, where a third occupant of the car they were using was rushed to hospital in critical conditions.
His death comes barely 5 days after World Athletics ratified his marathon World Record, he set at the Chicago Marathon in October 2023. Kiptum became the first man to run a marathon under 2 hours and 1 minute after clocking 2:00:35 to dethrone Eliud Kipchoge as the fastest man in the 42KM race.
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Kiptum was born on 2nd December 1999 and had just turned 24 years old before passing away leaving behind his wife Asenath Rotich whom they had two children together. As they say death is inevitable and everyone will one day die. In this article, Mideyah Digital will look at 5 Kenyan athletes who died when their careers were in prime after Kiptum’s death.
1.Samuel Wanjiru
Wanjiru won the 2008 Beijing Olympics Marathon in an Olympic record time of 2:06:32 becoming the first Kenyan to win the Olympic gold in the marathon as he also became the youngest gold medalist in the marathon since 1932. In 2009, Wanjiru won both the London Marathon and Chicago Marathon, running the fastest marathons ever recorded in the United Kingdom and United States, respectively. He retained his Chicago title in 2010 despite season full of injuries.
On May 11th, 2011, the devastating news of Samuel Wanjiru’s death surfaced after he allegedly fell off a balcony at his home in Nyahururu with his wife Triza Njeri saying he jumped off the balcony. The actual cause of his controversial death is yet to be established till date. In May 2017 while testifying before Milimani Courts, Wanjiru’s mother Hannah Wanjiru said her son was murdered by six men who had plotted with his wife Trizah Njeri. Samuel Wanjiru passed away at only 24 years old.
2. Agnes Tirop
She won bronze medals in the 10,000m at the 2017 and World Athletics Championship. During the 2015 World Cross Country Championships, Tirop became the second youngest ever gold medalist in the women’s race. At the time of her death in 2021, she was the world-record holder in the 10KM women’s-only event.
On 13th October, Agnes Tirop was found dead at her home in Iten in Elgeyo Marakwet County. Police said Tirop was found with multiple stab wounds in the neck and abdomen believed to be from his husband Emmanuel Rotich. Rotich went missing after calling his family crying and asking for God’s forgiveness for something he had done. Tirop died at the age of 25.
3. Richard Chelimo
Richard Chelimo was a long-distance runner and was a world Junior champion in the 10,000m. race before transitioning to the senior category. Chelimo is best known as the silver medalist in the controversial 10,000m at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.
He also held the world record briefly for a week before fellow Kenyan Yobes Ondieki broke it. Chelimo died of a brain tumour aged 29 years in 2001.
4. Nicholas Bett
Nichola Bett was a track and field athlete who competed in the 400M hurdles with his personal best for the event being 47.79 seconds. In 2015, he won a gold medal in the event, becoming the first Kenyan to win a gold medal in a race less than 800M. The two-time bronze medalist at the African Championships in Athletics met his death after he was involved in a road accident on 8th August 2018. Bett Died at the age of 28 and was poised to do more in 400M hurdles race but the dream was cut short.
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