{"id":15315,"date":"2020-10-02T20:21:58","date_gmt":"2020-10-02T20:21:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/kenya\/?p=15315"},"modified":"2020-10-02T20:21:58","modified_gmt":"2020-10-02T20:21:58","slug":"ethiopias-kenenisa-bekele-withdraws-from-the-london-marathon-set-for-sunday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sport\/ethiopias-kenenisa-bekele-withdraws-from-the-london-marathon-set-for-sunday","title":{"rendered":"Ethiopia\u2019s Kenenisa Bekele withdraws from the London Marathon set for Sunday"},"content":{"rendered":"

Author:\u00a0Waweru Titus<\/strong>
\nAfricaPress-Kenya:<\/strong> Ethiopian long-distance runner and the current world record and Olympic record holder in the 10,000-metre event Kenenisa Bekele has withdrawn from the much-awaited London Marathon set for Sunday.<\/p>\n

Bekele, who was due to race against the world record marathon holder Eliud Kipchoge, picked up a calf injury ahead of the blockbuster race.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am very disappointed that I cannot race on Sunday. It has been a tough preparation time with lockdown when I couldn\u2019t have my NN team around me.<\/p>\n

“I was in good shape but then I picked up a niggle in my left calf after two fast training sessions too close together in the last weeks of preparation,\u201d Bekele told race organisers on Friday.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI have been having treatment every day since then and I truly believed I would be ready but today it is worse and I now know I cannot race on it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis race was so important to me. My time in Berlin last year gave me great confidence and motivation and I was looking forward to show that again, I have worked so hard for it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know many people around the world have been looking forward to this race and I am sorry to disappoint my fans, the organisers and my fellow competitors. I will take time to recover and become fit again and I hope to be back in London next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Event Director of the Virgin Money London Marathon, Hugh Brasher, wished the most successful runner in the history of the\u00a0IAAF World Cross Country Championships a quick recovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe world has been waiting to see this head to head between Kenenisa Bekele and Eliud Kipchoge but it will now not happen this Sunday. We know how disappointed he is and we wish him a speedy recovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was never likely to be just a two-man race as we had four of the top ten fastest marathon runners ever and six men in the field who have broken 2:05, including Mosinet Geremew and Mule Wasihun, second and third last year, and 2018 runner-up Shura Kitata,\u201d Brasher pointed out.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Marathon athletes (L-R) Eliud Kipchoge from Kenya, Kenenisa Bekele from Ethiopia and Wilson Kipsang from Kenya hold up their start numbers as they pose during a press conference in Berlin on September 22, 2017, to promote the Berlin Marathon to take place on September 24.\u00a0<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The race will take place on an enclosed looped course in St James\u2019s Park\u00a0in a secure biosphere, a contained safe environment like that of Formula 1 and England cricket, with performances eligible for Olympic qualification.<\/p>\n

Bekele won the Berlin Marathon in a time of 2:03:03 in 2016, a new personal best, then the third-fastest marathon of all time.<\/p>\n

He won the Berlin Marathon in September 2019 in 2:01:41, the second-fastest time ever and just two seconds off of the\u00a0world record set by Kenya\u2019s Kipchoge\u00a0on the same course the previous year.<\/p>\n

The Ethiopian recently (March 2020) won the London half marathon in 60:22. He improved on the course record by 1:18 minutes formerly set by Mo Farah in 2019.<\/p>\n

The women\u2019s race on Sunday features the world record holder Brigid Kosgei, world champion Ruth Chepngetich and 2018 London champion Vivian Cheruiyot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Author:\u00a0Waweru Titus AfricaPress-Kenya: Ethiopian long-distance runner and the current world record and Olympic record holder in the 10,000-metre event Kenenisa Bekele has withdrawn from the much-awaited London Marathon set for Sunday. Bekele, who was due to race against the world record marathon holder Eliud Kipchoge, picked up a calf injury ahead of the blockbuster race. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":15316,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,17],"tags":[1892,1894],"class_list":["post-15315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-sport","tag-kenenisa-bekele","tag-london-marathon"],"yoast_head":"\nEthiopia\u2019s Kenenisa Bekele withdraws from the London Marathon set for Sunday - kenya<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ethiopian long-distance runner and the current world record and Olympic record holder in the 10,000-metre event Kenenisa Bekele has\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sport\/ethiopias-kenenisa-bekele-withdraws-from-the-london-marathon-set-for-sunday\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ethiopia\u2019s Kenenisa Bekele withdraws from the London Marathon set for Sunday\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ethiopian long-distance runner and the current world record and Olympic record holder in the 10,000-metre event Kenenisa Bekele has\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sport\/ethiopias-kenenisa-bekele-withdraws-from-the-london-marathon-set-for-sunday\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"kenya\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-10-02T20:21:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/10\/sdedszsze4ijarwz5f774b5e5349f.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"516\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sport\/ethiopias-kenenisa-bekele-withdraws-from-the-london-marathon-set-for-sunday#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sport\/ethiopias-kenenisa-bekele-withdraws-from-the-london-marathon-set-for-sunday\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Ethiopia\u2019s Kenenisa Bekele withdraws from the London Marathon set for Sunday\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-02T20:21:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sport\/ethiopias-kenenisa-bekele-withdraws-from-the-london-marathon-set-for-sunday\"},\"wordCount\":542,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sport\/ethiopias-kenenisa-bekele-withdraws-from-the-london-marathon-set-for-sunday#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/10\/sdedszsze4ijarwz5f774b5e5349f.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"kenenisa bekele\",\"london marathon\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sport\/ethiopias-kenenisa-bekele-withdraws-from-the-london-marathon-set-for-sunday#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sport\/ethiopias-kenenisa-bekele-withdraws-from-the-london-marathon-set-for-sunday\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sport\/ethiopias-kenenisa-bekele-withdraws-from-the-london-marathon-set-for-sunday\",\"name\":\"Ethiopia\u2019s Kenenisa Bekele withdraws from the London Marathon set for Sunday - 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