Two-time London Marathon champion Brigid Kosgei has withdrawn from this weekend's event due to a hamstring injury.
Kosgei has been struggling with the injury for the past two months and decided to withdraw from the high-profile event to avoid making the injury worse.
Kosgei said: “I have been struggling over the past month with an issue in the hamstring of my right leg.
"My training has been up and down and not the way I would like to prepare to be in top condition for the 2022 TCS London Marathon.
"We’ve decided it’s best I withdraw from this year’s race and get further treatment on my injuries in order to enter 2023 stronger than ever.”
Kosgei won the London Marathon in 2019 and 2020 and was fourth last year after winning a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
In 2019, she set the women’s world record of 2:14:04 at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. This year, she won the Tokyo Marathon in 2:16:02, the fourth-fastest time in history.
Judith Korir, the silver medallist in the women’s marathon at this year’s World Championships, is a late addition to the elite women’s field of the event.
Korir won this year’s Paris Marathon in April before finishing runner-up in the World Championships in Oregon in July. She was originally scheduled to be a pacemaker in this year’s TCS London Marathon but has now opted to race over the full distance.
The 2022 TCS London Marathon elite women’s race will still feature a world-class field, headed by the reigning champion, Kenya's Joyciline Jepkosgei, and Yalemzerg Yehualaw of Ethiopia, the fastest marathon debutant in history.
In the men's category, the runner-up in the last two London Marathons, Kenya’s Vincent Kipchumba has had to withdraw due to injury alongside Mosinet Geremew (ETH), who was third last year and the silver medallist in the marathon at the last World Championships in Oregon, United States.
The full list of pacemakers for the elite men's and women’s races has also been announced.
The men’s pacers include a long list of leading British endurance talent including Marc Scott, Andy Butchart, Emile Cairess and Ben Connor. Calli Thackery and Clara Evans are among the Brits pacing in the elite women’s race.
