In February, marathon world record holder Kiptum was killed in a car accident, which made people sigh. Less than two months later, the Kiptum-style tragedy almost repeated. On April 3, local time, Ugandan long-distance runner Jacob Kiplimo lost control of his vehicle and was involved in a car accident, but fortunately he was only slightly injured in the accident.
The accident occurred on Wednesday, just three days after defending the 10km World Cross-Country Championships in Belgrade, when Kiplimo was driving a Mitsubishi pickup truck with a license plate of UBK 231 and planning to return to his hometown from Kapchorwa. On a muddy road, Kiplimo's vehicle lost control and rushed into a ditch.
After the accident, Kiplimo was rushed to a hospital in the town of Kapchorwa for examination. The examination revealed that Kiplimo had suffered only minor injuries and that he was soon transferred to a medical center in Kapjowa for recovery.
"I want to thank God, because the situation could have been much worse. "I'm not sure how much internal damage this will cause me." ”
The 23-year-old Kiplimo is the favourite to win gold in the 10,000m at the Paris Olympics. He competed in Rio in 2016 and became the youngest Ugandan athlete to compete in the Games. At Tokyo 2021, Kiplimo won bronze in the men's 10,000m.
Kiplimo's other important title is the world record holder for the half marathon, setting a new world record in the 2021 Lisbon Half Marathon with a time of 57:31. Kiplimo still has no plans to run a full marathon, and he was considered the most likely runner to run a full marathon of two hours other than Kiptum.