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Kenya's Mutai shakes off injury, to run at London marathon

Xinhua, March 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Kenya's Geoffrey Mutai said Monday he has recovered from an ankle injury and will be available for the London marathon on April 26.

"It was a small strain on my ankle and I did not want to risk anything. But I have gone over it and am ready for the London Marathon in April," he said in Nairobi.

The 33-year-old two time New York Marathon champion skipped Tokyo marathon last month because of an injury he picked in training.

Organizers of London marathon on Monday confirmed the addition of Mutai to the event together with Ethiopian Aselefech Mergia.

"Mutai and Mergia from Ethiopia are the two most prominent names in a second wave of athletes signed up for the London Marathon's 35th anniversary races on April 26," said a statement from the organizers.

However, Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele, the multiple Olympic and world track champion, who broke the Paris Marathon course record on his debut last April, has been forced to withdraw with a right Achilles tendon injury sustained during the Dubai Marathon in January.

"Unfortunately, I have had to pull out of this year's Virgin Money London Marathon because of the problems I had while running in Dubai," said Bekele."I desperately wanted to run in London this year, but the injury to my Achilles has not healed sufficiently for me to compete against such a great field.

Despite the Ethiopian's withdrawal, the men's line-up remains one of the best ever seen.

Alongside Mutai the field features a clash between world record holder Dennis Kimetto and defending London champion Wilson Kipsang, plus the second fastest marathon runner in history, Emmanuel Mutai, the reigning Chicago Marathon champion, Eliud Kipchoge, and last year's London Marathon runner-up Stanley Biwott.

The line-up contains the three fastest marathon runners of all time, and six of the 10 quickest men in history, while Mutai, who has a "legitimate" personal best of 2:04:15, is one of nine men to have run the grueling 26.2 miles in under 2:05. Endite