Olympic steeplechase champ Kipruto unhurt after car crash

September 19, 2018

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Olympic steeplechase champion Conseslus Kipruto has escaped unhurt after a car crash on the same road in Kenya where former hurdle world champion Nicholas Bett was killed last month.

Police say Kipruto's SUV slammed into the back of a tractor Tuesday night on the road between the towns of Eldoret and Kapsabet in the Rift Valley region in western Kenya. The high-altitude region is popular as a training base for distance runners.

A police official who requested anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak to the media said Kipruto's SUV had caused significant damage to the tractor and it was a surprise no one was hurt. The official also said David Rudisha, the two-time 800-meter Olympic champion and world-record holder, came to the scene of the accident to help Kipruto, who had been driving the vehicle.

Bett, the 2015 world champion in the 400-meter hurdles, died when his SUV hit bumps on the same road and rolled. He was 28.

The 23-year-old Kipruto is the reigning Olympic, world, Commonwealth and African champion in the 3,000 meters steeplechase.

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