Kiptum's widow: My husband loved his children dearly
What you need to know:
- Asenath was overcome with grief narrating Kelvin’s love and commitment to his family, revealing that he was a caring man who deeply loved his family.
- “We had good plans. He even planned to take me with him for the Rotterdam Marathon on April 14 this year,” she told Nation Sport on Monday.
As tributes continue to pour after the death of World Marathon record holder Kelvin Kiptum in a road accident on Sunday night, his widow Asenath Cheruto revealed that her husband had big plans for their family.
Asenath said Kiptum was in the process of putting up a family home in the posh Hillside residential area in Eldoret, where most athletes live. The couple was waiting for approval of the house plans by the county government and targeted to have the house completed by June.
Asenath was overcome with grief narrating Kelvin’s love and commitment to his family, revealing that he was a caring man who deeply loved his family.
“We had good plans. He even planned to take me with him for the Rotterdam Marathon on April 14 this year,” she told Nation Sport on Monday.
Kelvin Kiptum, wearing a traditional plant ornament, Sinendet, is served traditional fermented milk, Mursik, by his wife Asenath Rotich (left) on his arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport from Chicago on October 10, 2023, where he set the new marathon world record.
She recounted her last moments with her husband, which was early Saturday morning when he left at 4am for training at the Fluorspar camp as usual and was to return home on Monday.
She had bid him goodbye and wished him a great time training before she went back to bed. He would later call her at around 10am to share that he was exhausted from the training.
While he had promised to take his wife and children for an outing on Sunday, he was unable to honor the same as he had a headache after training, the widow said, narrating that they had kept in touch on the phone till around Sunday 8pm.
Marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum upon arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport from Chicago on October 10, 2023.
They had talked at around 4pm, and he had indicated that he was going for some training with his coach, and later talked to the children at around 8pm, promising to bring them wristwatches on Monday, after they requested for the same.
He had promised to call her during the halftime of the English Premier League match pitting Manchester against Aston Villa and she had retired to bed, only to be woken up by knocks by her mother-in-law shortly after 11pm informing her about her husband’s vehicle being spotted in a forest area in Kaptagat.
The family had initially received misleading reports that the athlete may have been carjacked, and they quickly mobilized their numbers before setting off to the scene, ending up at Racecourse Hospital where they learned the shocking news about the athlete’s sudden demise.
The widow said her husband was highly optimistic about dipping under two hours in this year’s races.
According to his fellow athletes and coaches who trained closely with him, Kiptum was in better shape than he was at the 2023 Chicago Marathon.
Kelvin Kiptum of Kenya celebrates after setting a new world record time of 2:00:35 at the Chicago Marathon on October 8, 2023.
He loved his athletics career and trained twice, they revealed, noting that he was a dedicated and passionate athlete, who also deeply cherished his young family.
Coach Koech recalled training together last Saturday, where he talked at length about the upcoming April marathon race and 2024 Paris Olympics. They had also spared some time to take pictures after the athlete insisted on the same.
“He had very high hopes of performing better in this year’s races,” said coach Koech who has trained with him at the Camp -Rosa training camp in Kaptagat since 2019.
“We had talked about how to prepare for the races, and we agreed to rest on Sunday and meet again on Monday for another training,” said Koech.
Rotich, who has trained with Kiptum since 2019 both in Iten and Kaptagat, said other athletes learned a lot from him and he was an inspiration.
