The late Kelvin Kiptum was an only child, his father Samson Cheruiyot has said. Cheruiyot spoke hours after his son, Kiptum, died in a car accident along the Eldoret-Ravine highway.

“Let me tell you, Kiptum is my only son and child. Now, he has left me his father, his mother, and his children. I do not have any other children. My wife had some problems, and doctors advised us not to have any more kids. So, we adhered to the advice,” said Cheruiyot.

Kiptum, who was the World marathon record holder, died at the tender age of just 24 years.

When he spoke to local media, Kiptum’s father added that he learned about his son’s death on television.

I made millions in US but have returned to Kenya broke because of my American wife

“It was around 9:30 pm when I saw the breaking news about my son. I received a call a few minutes later from someone who saw my son’s car in the forest. I got into my car and drove off to the accident scene. Unfortunately, I neither found my son nor his coach. I was told the police had transported them to a hospital,” he said.

Kelvin Kiptum was set to attempt to run a full marathon under two hours during the Rotterdam Marathon on April 14, this year.

His death came barely days after his official world record of 2:00:35 was ratified by the IAAF World Athletics.