(Vox) – Kelvin Kiptum, who set a world-record marathon time this past October at the Chicago Marathon and was expected to contend for gold at this summer’s Olympic Games, died Sunday in a car crash in his home country of Kenya, after his car veered off the road and into a ditch. At just 24 years old, he had run three of the seven fastest marathons ever recorded, including his record 2:00:35 run in Chicago.

Because of Kiptum’s international celebrity, the tragedy drew headlines around the world. But his death reflects a broader epidemic of preventable car crash deaths in the Global South — a pattern that has intensified in recent years, even as car fatalities in affluent countries have been declining (the US is a notable exception). (Read More)