‘Your father killed someone’: Eliud Kipchoge reveals family’s trauma after false accusation over Kelvin Kiptum’s death

“I am deeply saddened by the tragic death of marathon world record holder and rising star Kelvin Kiptum.” was Eliud Kipchoge’s X post as a tribute to the marathon world record holder after his death. No authority questioned the two-time Olympic gold medalist about the death of Kelvin Kiptum, who was widely believed to have ultimately taken Eliud Kipchoge’s place. But through several coincidences, Kipchoge came under public criticism.

A thorough autopsy report has quashed any blame in Kelvin Kiptum’s death. But the relentless verbal attack on Eliud showed no sign of stopping. Now, almost 80 days later, Kipchoge has decided to express the turmoil that he and his friends are experiencing these days.

Eliud Kipchoge finds no relief from online attackers

Speaking to BBC Africa, Eliud expressed his helplessness in the face of the brigade of online attackers who have been attacking him since Kelvin Kiptum’s death in February. Such an attack did not leave his children unmoved, for his boys had to experience the bitter taste of it. In one such confession, Eliud acknowledged that his sons needed to hear it: “Your father killed someone.” Such a situation made him think about his family’s safety.

“I don’t have the power to go to the police and tell them my life is in danger. So it was really about telling my family to be extra aware and careful.” added the former world record holder. But that could hardly work since Kipchoge himself described that his children were at school and apart from his girl, the boys were making the trip alone. So the 39-year-old took on the responsibility of driving his children to school. But it was beyond his power to curb the online hate.

When Eliud Kipchoge realized this part, he had to resort to the help of his acquaintances.“I started calling a lot of people” he said. But suitable help was never in sight. Meanwhile, such a fiasco took a significant toll on his aesthetics and public relations, resulting in a huge loss of contact. His performance on the field also went downhill. In such a situation, Eliud Kipchoge does not yet know what the reason for the public outcry against him is. Especially since I come from a close-knit family, the changed situation didn’t fit well with the facility.

The indecency of the situation that started it all

Kelvin Kiptum and his trainer Gervais Hakizimana experienced a car accident in a hilly region of Kenya. According to the pathologists “severe skull fractures” were the reason for his death. However, according to the online troll, Eliud Kipchoge is said to have been linked to this accident. The contributing reason was profound.

In his first full marathon appearance in Valencia, Kelvin Kiptum won the competition with a time of 2:01:53, almost breaking the 2-hour time. In his next attempt, the 24-year-old Kenyan secured the podium at the 2023 London Marathon, reducing the time limit to 2:01:25. That was almost equal to Eliud Kipchoge’s world record of 2:01:09 at the time. Soon, Kiptum broke Kipchoge’s Chicago Marathon record by keeping the timing at 2:00:35. However, it didn’t stop there.

Kelvin later increased the hype by saying: “I said, let me try; Maybe I can run under 2:00.” According to the opinion, Eliud Kipchoge never helped Kelvin Kiptum in this endeavor, even though he belongs to the same nationality. Apparently Kipchoge was afraid of being defeated by Kiptum in the race to be the first runner under 2:00. However, there is no support from reality for this. But on the contrary: Eliud Kipchoge now lives in a changed situation that denies him freedom of movement – a situation to which he is not used. And no one knows when this will end.