Jepchirchir Withdraws from London Marathon

Kenya’s Peres Jepchirchir has opted to skip this month’s London Marathon, citing a stress fracture of unspecified origin. The Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion, who finished second in the December Valencia marathon, was diagnosed with the injury after the race. This has forced her to delay her preparation for the event, leading to her decision to withdraw. At 32, Jepchirchir is the reigning 2024 London Marathon winner, having set a women’s-only world record with a time of 2 hours 16 minutes and 16 seconds.

“I was only able to restart training in late January,” she explained. “To compete at the London Marathon, you need peak form, but my training volume fell short due to the injury. I’m not ready to meet the demands of the race.”

Jepchirchir had previously missed last year’s London Marathon due to an ankle injury. Her absence this time follows a similar pattern, with the 2024 Olympic champion Sifan Hassan also withdrawing earlier in April after sustaining an Achilles injury. Both athletes have prioritized recovery over participating in the event.

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