Rotterdam Marathon to hold a tribute for the late Kelvin Kiptum

The organisers of the 41st edition of the Rotterdam Marathon have announced that they will honor the memory of the late world marathon record holder Kelvin Kiptum, who passed on through a tragic road accident on February 11, 2024 alongside his Rwandese coach, Gervais Hakizimana.

The race participants will take a minute to commemorate Kiptum, as announced by the organizers in a statement released this Wednesday.

This year’s edition that is slated for this Sunday, 14 April in Rotterdam, Netherlands, will host top elite athletes that includes, the double Tokyo marathon champion, Birhanu Legese of Ethiopia who is the only athlete on the start list to have achieved to go under the 2:03.

The 29 year-old who comes to this race with the fastest time on paper of 2:02.48 that he got five years ago at the Berlin Marathon, where he took the silver, will have to get past the Tokyo Olympics Marathon silver medallist, Abdi Nageeye from the Netherlands who carries a life time best of 2:03.36, which is also the European marathon record.

The two will face-off with Kenneth Kipkemoi, who carries Kenya’s hopes on his shoulder and comes to this race with the third fastest time on the entry list of 2:04.52 that he got two years ago at the Eindhoven marathon, where he took the honors.

The race organisers have assembled a strong elite field whose main agenda is to lower the race course record of 2:03.35, set three years ago by Tokyo Olympics marathon bronze medallist, Bashir Abdi from Belgium.