Farah withdraws from London Marathon
The Four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah has withdrawn from this Sunday's London Marathon with a hip injury.
As reported by the organisers and the BBC, the six-time world champion won the Big Half - a half-marathon race - in London earlier this month as part of his preparations and said it is "really disappointing" and that he has done everything he can to compete but "it hasn't proved enough". It would have been the 39-year-old's first full marathon since 2019.
"Over the past 10 days I've been feeling pain and tightness in my right hip. I've had extensive treatment and done everything I can to be on the start line but it hasn't improved enough to compete on Sunday."
Farah (handicap -4.1) added that he is disappointed not to be racing in front of his home crowd and that he hopes to return to the race in April 2023.
Farah, finished was third in the 2018 London Marathon and has raced in three London Marathons. His time of 2:05:11 in winning the Chicago Marathon in 2018 is still a British record. Farah also tops the British all time lists over 1500m, 3000m , 5000m, 10 000m and the Half Marathon!
Hugh Brasher, event director of the London Marathon, said: "We are so sorry that Mo is not fit to run on Sunday. We wish him a very speedy recovery and hope to see him running the 2023 London Marathon in April next year."
Ethiopian Sisay Lemma, who won the 2021 edition of the race, and compatriot Kenenisa Bekele are among the favourites for the men's title.
Eliud Kipchoge, who smashed his own marathon world record in Berlin recently, travels to London this weekend to present medals to the winners of the age group championships events in the new TCS Mini London Marathon on Saturday 1 October – the day before the TCS London Marathon.
Kipchoge, the four-time London Marathon champion, clocked an astonishing 2:01:09 at the BMW Berlin Marathon to take 30 seconds off the world record he set in the same race in 2018. He now owns four of the five fastest times in history and is also the only man to have run the marathon distance in under two hours (not recognised as a world record).
On Saturday he will present the medals to the UK’s top young athletes racing over the final 2.6K of the world-famous course and finishing under the TCS London Marathon gantry on The Mall.