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Uganda' s Olympic gold medalist to miss London Marathon

Xinhua, April 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

The 2012 Olympic marathon champion and Uganda' s star athlete Stephen Kiprotich will miss the 2016 London Marathon slated for April 24.

The gold medalist told Xinhua in an interview on Friday that he decided to skip the high profile event so that he concentrates on training ahead of the Olympics in Brazil.

"I don' t want to burn out now, but instead train harder to better my times," Kiprotich said.

The 36th edition of the race will attract about 38,000 runners with the defending champion Eliud Kipchoge back to defend his title and another Kenyan Wilson Kipsang who won the event in 2014.

Former star Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia) and Rwanda' s Gervais Hakizimana will also take part.

Dominic Otuchet, head of Uganda Athletics Federation said after the Japan marathon in January, Kiprotich needs to remain fresh ahead of the Summer Olympics.

Tigist Tufa, who became only the second Ethiopian woman to win the event last year, will attempt to defend her crown against a formidable field.

World record holder Dennis Kimetto will also fancy his chances while plenty of runners will be putting everything on the line in an attempt to post a time good enough to qualify for this summer's Olympic Games in Rio Janeiro. Endit