“Your Dad Has Killed Someone”: Eliud Kipchoge Reveals Family’s Trauma After False Accusation of Kelvin Kiptum’s Death

“I am deeply saddened by the tragic passing of the Marathon World record holder and rising star Kelvin Kiptum,” was Eliud Kipchoge’s X-post paying homage to the marathon world record holder after his death. No authorities questioned the 2x Olympic gold medalist regarding the death of Kelvin Kiptum, who was largely assumed to have taken up Eliud Kipchoge’s place in the long run. But through several coincidences, Kipchoge found himself at the receiving end in the scrutiny of public eyes.

A thorough autopsy report trashed any foul play in Kelvin Kiptum’s death. But the relentless verbal attack on Eliud didn’t show any sign of stopping. Now, almost 80 days later, Kipchoge has decided to express the turmoil he and his known ones have been experiencing these days. 

Eliud Kipchoge finds no relief from online attackers 

In his conversation with BBC Africa, Eliud expressed his helplessness in front of the brigade of online attackers who have hurled at him since Kelvin Kiptum’s death in February. Such an attack didn’t leave his kids, as his boys had to experience the bitter taste of it. In one such confession, Eliud conceded that his sons had to hear, “Your dad has killed somebody.” Such a situation made him think about the security of his family. 

“I don’t have power to go to police and tell them my life is in danger. So my concern was actually to tell my family to be extra conscious and cautious,” the former world record holder added. But that could hardly act as Kipchoge himself described that his kids were in school and apart from his girl, the boys used to do the journey on their own. So, the 39-year-old took up the responsibility of driving his children to school. But putting a lid on the online hate was beyond his power. 

Realizing that part, Eliud Kipchoge had to resort to help from his known ones.“I started to call a lot of people,” he said. But a suitable help was never in sight. Meanwhile, such a fiasco took a serious toll on his aesthetics and public relations, resulting in a huge loss of contacts. His on-court performance also went downhill. In such a situation, Eliud Kipchoge is yet to know about the reason for such public outcry against him. Especially, coming from a closely-knit family, the changed situation did not go well with the setup. 

The indecency of the situation that started all 

Kelvin Kiptum faced a car crash in a hilly region of Kenya with his coach, Gervais Hakizimana. As per the pathologists, “severe skull fractures” were the reason for his death. However, as per the online troll, Eliud Kipchoge allegedly linked to this accident. The contributing reason was deep. 

In his first full marathon show up in Valencia, Kelvin Kiptum won the contest in 2:01:53 timing-touching the 2-hour timing, almost. In his next endeavor, the 24-year-old Kenyan claimed the podium of the London Marathon 2023, shaving the time limit to 2:01:25. That was almost at par with Eliud Kipchoge’s then-world record of 2:01:09. Soon, Kiptum broke Kipchoge’s record in the Chicago Marathon, by keeping the timing, 2:00:35. However, he did not stop there. 

Later, Kelvin increased the hype by saying, “I said, Let me try; maybe I can run under 2:00.” As per the opinion, Eliud Kipchoge never helped Kelvin Kiptum on this endeavor, despite coming from the same nationality. Allegedly, Kipchoge had the fear of being defeated by Kiptum in the race to become the first runner under 2:00 timing. However, that has no support from reality. But on the contrary, Eliud Kipchoge now lives under a changed setup that bars him from free movement – a situation that he is not accustomed to. And nobody knows when this will end.