Nairobi — The coach of newly crowned marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum says the 23-year-old was on the verge of withdrawing from the Chicago Marathon due to a slight tonsillitis.
Gervais Hakizimana revealed that they had to convince Kiptum that all was going to be well before the marathoner eventually agreed to proceed with the race.
"He wanted to withdraw from the race because one week before the competition, he had tonsillitis as well as a thigh injury. He had called the manager expressing his intention but we managed to convince him not to do so. We told him that with the right medication, he would recover in two days and indeed, in two days he was ready and raring to go," Hakizimana said.
The Rwandese further narrated that Kiptum's vigour and hunger for the world record was renewed as soon as they landed in Chicago.
"When we got there, he told me that he was optimistic that the world record will come. Indeed, from the first time he competed in the marathon in Valencia (December last year), the desire for the world record began from there. That is my history with him," the coach said.
Describing Kiptum as his 'killing machine', Hakizimana delved into how their association began from a young age on the way to birthing a world record.
"I have known him since childhood when I used to train near their farm in 2009. He would usually come and join me although by then he would not go the full course. We met again in 2015 when I was struggling with injuries and was contemplating hanging my spikes. He asked me for advice on how to train and I would send him training programmes from my base in France where I was training other athletes," Hakizimana explained.
The kingmaker
The coach went on to explain how he eventually took up the mantle of forging Kiptum from an upcoming athlete to a world beater who now sits on throne of the men's 42km road race.
"There were two races (21km) in which he participated in a space of one week. In the first one, he clocked 60:00 and then the second one timed 59:00. It was then that I saw that he had the potential and the endurance and so we started working together," Hakizimana narrated.
Nonetheless, Kiptum was hesitant to transition to full marathon until he was convinced by the Rwandese to dive head first into the 42km, convinced that the 23-year-old had the pair of lungs and strong legs to make a huge splash.
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"During the coronavirus period, we worked with him because, luckily, the pandemic had locked me here in Kenya. I knew that he could hack it in the 42km but he was reluctant at first. In fact, he would have started running in the full marathon as early as 2020 if not for his dithering," he explained.
As they say, the rest is history; in his third full marathon race of his career, Kiptum smashed fellow Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge's world record by clocking 2:00:35 on Sunday to beat the tape.
Hakizimana said he was a proud and privileged coach who had received a once-in-a lifetime chance to stand before 'kings and queens' by virtue of his athlete's amazing feat.
"I am so happy to stand here before you all...government ministers, AK officials and the media. It is truly an amazing feat for someone who was hitherto unknown. I am a foreigner in this country and this is such a huge thing for me," Hakizimana, whose family lives in Kenya, said.
