- This was the first time he was speaking about Kiptum publicly having missed his funeral service.
- Kiptum died in a road accident on February 11 alongside his coach Gervais Hakizimana along the Eldoret-Kaptagat road.
Image: NN Running Team
World marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge on Friday paid tribute to the late Kelvin Kiptum ahead of the highly anticipated Sunday’s Tokyo marathon.
Speaking in a press for the Tokyo marathon, Kipchoge expressed his sadness noting it was “unfortunate that he left here".
According to Kipchoge, the late marathoner was running at a high level and that his career was in high spirits.
This was the first time he was speaking about Kiptum publicly having missed his funeral service.
Kiptum died in a road accident on February 11 alongside his coach Gervais Hakizimana along the Eldoret-Kaptagat road.
The two were expected to meet for the first time in the Paris Olympic games scheduled for April this year.
Kipchoge added there were a lot of expectations ahead of the race and that it would be a little different.
Kiptum shattered Kipchoge’s Berlin marathon record of 2:01:09 at the Chicago marathon posting 2:00:35.
Kipchoge who arrived in Japan Monday intensified his training Thursday.
Photos shared by the NN Running Team showed Kipchoge in a training session with other Kenyan athletes in Japan.
Meanwhile, the company has unveiled the 2024 racing kit, a design centred on the leaf of the Acacia tree.
“Paying homage to our deep connection with the African landscape in which we run countless hours preparing to shine on the world stage,” NN said.
NN Running Team is a professional running team based in the Netherlands and founded in 2017 by Jos Hermens, the director of Global Sports Communication.
It is known to drive innovation within the world of running offering a new level of fan engagement and has connected millions of runners around the world.
The team's title sponsor is the Dutch insurance company NN Group.
The running team includes some of the most accomplished distance runners in the world, including many Olympians.
As of January 2023, the team consisted of over 70 athletes from eight different countries, including 50 men and 20 women.
Some of its most notable members are marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge, Geoffrey Kamworor, Kenenisa Bekele, Joshua Cheptegei and multiple world record holders Letesenbet Gidey.
One of the NN Running Team's training camps is located in Kaptagat, Kenya.
Petrochemicals giant Ineos announced a new performance partnership with Kenyan marathon runner and two-time Olympic gold medalist Eliud Kipchoge.
Ineos previously partnered with the 37-year-old and his Dutch-based NN Running Team in 2019 for the 1:59 Challenge in Vienna, where Kipchoge became the first runner to ever complete a full marathon in under two hours.