NAIROBI, April 12 (Xinhua) -- Former New York Marathon champion Stanley Biwott of Kenya has picked up an injury in training and will not honour the call to compete at the London marathon on April 22.
Organizers of the London Marathon announced Thursday that Biwott, 31, will not form part of the 22 elite marathon runners who will be eyeing to break the Dennis Kimetto (2:02:57) world record. He holds a personal best time of 2:03:51 from London in 2016.
"Biwott, who was runner-up behind Kipchoge in London two years ago has had to withdraw from the race with a left leg injury that prevented him from training for two weeks," organizers said in a statement.
However, that does not water down the level of competition as Kenya's Daniel Wanjiru faces a daunting task in defense of his London Marathon title against three of the greatest distance runners of their generation.
Wanjiru was a surprise winner of the 2017 men's race when he held off the challenge of Ethiopian track legend Kenenisa Bekele to clinch his victory and succeed Olympic gold medallist Eliud Kipchoge as London Marathon champion.
At 24, Wanjiru had only three marathons behind him and just one victory – although that was a spectacular triumph, coming at the Amsterdam Marathon in October 2016 when he took almost three minutes from his personal best to beat a field of far more experienced runners.
"I am the happiest man in the world," said Wanjiru.
Both Bekele and Kipchoge, the second and third fastest men in marathon history, will be back on the London start line alongside Britain's multiple world and Olympic track champion, Mo Farah, who defeated Wanjiru in the Big Half in London last month.
Kipchoge returns to London looking to make it a hat-trick of wins in the British capital after skipping last year's race for a stab at breaking the two-hour barrier.
The Kenyan superstar triumphed in 2015 and was eight seconds away from the current world record of 2:02:57 when he won again in 2016.
"The London Marathon is a race that holds very special memories for me," said the 33-year-old who became the fastest marathon runner in history when he clocked 2:00:25 in an unratified race in Monza, Italy, last May.
"I won it in 2015 and 2016 and both are days I will never forget. I came close to breaking the world record in 2016 and it is natural for anyone in that situation to think what might have been. But that race gave me the confidence to go on and win the Olympic title in Rio and run so well throughout 2017."
Kipchoge was again close to the world record in Berlin last September when he finished in 2:03:32, just 35 seconds off the mark set by his countryman Dennis Kimetto in 2014.
"I feel like I'm in good form," said Kipchoge.
"Berlin was difficult because the weather was not good but my time showed I was in the right shape. I know I have the world record in me so we will have to wait and see what happens."
With his best of 2:03:03, Bekele is the second quickest man in history and the fastest in the London field. After finishing third on his London debut in 2015, the 35-year-old placed second last year when he came close to catching Wanjiru in the closing stages.
He is joined by compatriot Guye Adola, who ran the fastest debut in history 2:03:46 behind Kipchoge in Berlin last September.
The Kenyan challenge is boosted by the experienced Abel Kirui, a two-time world champion who won the Chicago Marathon in 2016 and was second there last October.
Also in the field is Bedan Karoki who clinched third on his debut last year in London and ran the fourth fastest time ever at RAK Half Marathon in UAE in Februry.