Elisha Rotich has been added to the elite field of the Chicago Marathon slated for October 9.
Rotich won the 2021 Paris Marathon in 2:04:21, breaking Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele course record of 2:05:04.
Rotich has had a chequered career in road races, also winning 2016 Cannes Marathon in France in 2:10.45 and the 2017 Chuncheon Marathon in South Korea in 2:08:50.
He also bagged the 2018 Eindhoven Marathon in 2:07:32 and came home fourth in the Daegu Marathon after posting 2:07:5. In 2019, he was second in the Seoul Marathon in 2:06:12
Rotich, who will be making his debut in Chicago, said he was confident of performing well.
"It will be a tough event but my experience of running other big city marathons including Paris will come in handy. There is a good crop of runners in the event but I am ready for the battle,” he revealed.
Rotich will have Bernard Koech for the company during the event. Koech has a personal best time of 2:04:09, which he posted in Amsterdam while finishing second behind Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia.
Koech will be hoping to improve on his fifth-place finish at the marathon in 2014, where he clocked 2:08.30.
Benson Kipruto, who has a personal best of 2:05:13 set at the 2019 Toronto marathon, will also be in the line-up.
Other Kenyans in the field include Eric Kiptanui, winner of the Siena Marathon in Italy with a personal best of 2:05.47 and John Korir, who won the Los Angeles marathon in 2021 in 2:09:08.
Ethiopia's Shifera Tamru and Jemal Yimer are also in the mix. Tamru is the 2022 Daegu Marathon champion and 2019 Seoul Marathon champion with a personal best of 2:05:18 (Dubai, 2019). He finished fifth in Chicago last year.
Yimer is the Ethiopian national record holder in the half marathon (58.33) and the 12th fastest half marathon runner in history. He was third in the 2021 Boston Marathon on his marathon debut and has a marathon personal best of 2:08:58, which he posted in this year's Boston Marathon.
In the women's category, Ethiopian Ruti Aga has been added to the field where she will be up against former World Champion Ruth Chepngetich.
Aga won the 2018 and 2019 Tokyo Marathons and will be a formidable opponent. Vivian Kiplagat with a personal best of 2:20: 18 set at the Milan Marathon this year is also in the field.
