The late world marathon record holder Kelvin Kiptum’s father Samson Cheruiyot now says he yearned for his son to take education seriously but he instead chose athletics.
Cheruiyot said when he opted to leave education for athletics, he allowed him to have his way.
“I wanted my son to focus on education but he chose another route. I had to bow down, and went ahead to rent a house for him to start training until he started making his own money,” he said.
The father spoke to the media in Eldoret on Monday, hours after the accident.
Kiptum, the Chicago, London and Valencia marathon champion was involved in a road accident along Eldoret-Kaptagat road.
Cheruiyot said that his son had promised to run sub two hours at the 2024 Rotterdam marathon that is set for April 14 in the Netherlands.
“I received the bad news at around 9 pm. I was told that my son’s car was in the ditch, I drove there and found the wreckage and the body had been taken by the police and I followed to Eldoret," he said.
"On Saturday night we talked and he said he would be coming home the following day. He told me that his shape was good enough and he could run 1:59 at the Rotterdam marathon because he was fit enough.”
The 24-year-old athlete is the only son of Mzee Cheruiyot.
Mzee Cheruiyot now wants the state to probe the matter and establish what happened.
“My wife had some challenges and I was advised not to conceive again, which I had to adhere to," he said.
"The government should help me get justice because he is my only son. If he was alive, we would have great opportunities ahead. At our age, we don’t have any help and he has left children.”
