Four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah has withdrawn from Sunday’s London Marathon with a hip injury.
It would have been the 39-year-old’s first full marathon since 2019.The six-time world champion won the Big Half a half-marathon race in London earlier this month as part of his preparations.
“I am disappointed that i will not be racing in front of his home crowd and but am hoping to return to the race in April 2023” Farah said.
Farah, whose highest London Marathon finish was third in 2018, has raced in three London Marathons and was a pacemaker at the elite-only event in 2020.
His time of two hours five minutes 11 seconds at the Chicago Marathon in 2018, which is his only marathon victory.
Earlier in the week women’s marathon world record holder Brigid Kosgei withdrew from Sunday’s race due to injury.
Kosgei, 28, said an injury in her right hamstring had affected her ability to train over the past month.
The two-time winner in London was fourth in last year’s race after taking silver at the Tokyo Olympics.