Samuel Kiplimo Kosgei

Kenyan long-distance runner Samuel Kiplimo Kosgei, winner of the Barcelona marathon in 2021, died on 26 May at the age of 37 as a result of a traffic accident in Kenya.

The Kenyan Athletics Federation released a statement which read: “We would like to join fellow Kenyans and the sports fraternity in mourning the passing of former 25km world record holder Sammy Kiplimo, who died following a road accident.”

Kiplimo was a distance running specialist. He began to stand out in 2009 when he ran the Berlin half marathon in 59:36 and paced the Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie during the Berlin Marathon. A year later, in the same city, he established the 25km world record on the roads with a time of 1:11:50 in the ‘Big Berlin’ race.

He was also the winner of Košice Peace Marathon 2015 with a time of 2:07:07 and In 2021 he won the Zurich Barcelona Marathon, setting a course record with 2:06:03 – his best time over the distance. In 2022 he again participated in Barcelona, finishing 12th with a time of 2:08:59. His last race was in the Daegu International Marathon on 2 April 2023 where he placed seventh in 2:08:39.