One of the pre-race favourites Kenenisa Bekele has withdrawn from the 2020 London marathon on Sunday October 4th with a calf injury.
The three-time Olympic champion, who was expected to be Eliud Kipchoge’s biggest threat as he seeks an unprecedented fifth London marathon title, suffered the injury in training.
“I was in good shape but then I picked up a niggle in my left calf after two fast training sessions close together in the last weeks of preparation,” he said
The three-time Olympic champion from Ethiopia was expected to go head to head with Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge at the elite only race on Sunday, October 4th.
The Ethiopian missed Kipchoge’s world record by two seconds when he won in Berlin in 2019 in two hours one minute 41 seconds.
“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. I realise 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,’ he said in a statement.
