LONDON (AP) — The London Marathon paid tribute to last year's winner Kelvin Kiptum with a period of applause before the start of the men's race on Sunday.
Kiptum was killed along with his coach in a car crash in his native Kenya in February. At the age of 24, he was already the marathon world record holder and viewed as a top contender for gold at the Olympics in Paris this year.
Kiptum set a London Marathon course record of 2 hours, 1 minute, 25 seconds in 2023 — finishing nearly three minutes ahead of his closest rival.
A video of his win was played before the start of the men's race on Sunday, before a period of applause by the runners and the crowd at both the start area in Greenwich and the finish in front of Buckingham Palace in central London.
Kenenisa Bekele, the Ethiopian former Olympic 10,000 and 5,000-meter champion who is still competing in the elite marathon field at the age of 41, said this week that Kiptum had already created “an amazing history” in the sport.
“Kelvin of course, all of us miss him,” said Bekele, who was the runner-up in the London Marathon in 2017. “We put him in a special place in our heart because ... within a short time he has done a lot for our sport.”
Kiptum was driving when his vehicle veered off a road and into a ditch before hitting a tree, police said. He had broken the world record at last year’s Chicago Marathon.
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Ethiopia's Bekele Kenenisa poses in front of Buckingham Palace prior to a press conference, two days ahead of the TCS London Marathon 2024, in London, Friday April 19, 2024. (Zac Goodwin/PA via AP)
FILE - Kenya's Kelvin Kiptum crosses the finish line to win the men's race at the London Marathon in London, April 23, 2023. World record-holder Kiptum was supposed to race in the Netherlands this weekend, with plans to attack the flat Rotterdam course in pursuit of the 2-hour barrier. But the 24-year-old Olympic gold-medal favorite died in a one-car accident in his native Kenya in Feb. 2024, leaving a void in the marathon world. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, File)
PHOENIX (AP) — A judge on Friday rejected an effort by GOP lawmakers to use the term “unborn human being” to refer to a fetus in the pamphlet that Arizona voters will use to weigh a ballot measure that would expand abortion access in the state.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Christopher Whitten said the wording the legislative council suggested is “packed with emotion and partisan meaning” and asked for what he called more “neutral” language. The measure aims to expand abortion access from 15 weeks to 24 weeks – the point at which a fetus can survive outside the womb.
It would allow exemptions to save the woman’s life or to protect her physical or mental health. It would also prevent the state from adopting or enforcing laws that would forbid access to the procedure.
Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma, who is a co-chair of the legislative council, said the group will appeal the court’s decision to the state Supreme Court.
“The ruling is just plain wrong and clearly partisan,” said Toma, a Republican.
The State Supreme Court has until Aug. 27 to rule on the appeal for the language to be changed.
Aaron Thacker, communications director for Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, noted that the final decision on the ballot itself remains in the air.
“There’s still a lot of scenarios at play," he said. "Even after the secretary certifies the signatures, the courts have to decide if counties can put it on the ballot or not."
Arizona for Abortion Access, the organization leading the ballot measure campaign, sued the council earlier this month over the suggested language and advocated for the term “fetus,” which the council rejected.
Attorney General Kris Mayes wrote in a motion to submit an amicus brief that “fetus" and “pregnancy” are both neutral terms that the council could adopt.
“It’s incredibly important to us that Arizona voters get to learn more about and weigh our measure in objective and accurate terminology,” said Dawn Penich, communications director for the abortion access group.
Democrats have centered abortion rights in their campaigns in this year’s elections. Organizers in five other states have also proposed similar measures that would codify abortion access in their state constitutions: Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada and South Dakota.
Arizona organizers submitted more than double the amount of signatures needed for the measure to appear on the ballot.
FILE - Arizona abortion-rights supporters deliver over 800,000 petition signatures to the capitol to get abortion rights on the November general election ballot July 3, 2024, in Phoenix. A judge on Friday, July 26, rejected an effort by GOP lawmakers to use the term “unborn human being” to refer to a fetus in the pamphlet that Arizona voters will use to decide on a ballot measure that would expand abortion access in the state. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
