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Elite Men's Preview: Wanjiru defends against three of the greats
10/04/2018
Daniel Wanjiru will face a daunting task when he defends his London
Marathon title against three of the greatest distance runners of their
generation on Sunday 22 April.
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 first
Abbott World Marathon Majors victory and succeed Olympic gold medallist
Eliud Kipchoge as London Marathon champion.
At just 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.
In London, he proved that performance was no fluke when he made a break
just before the 21-mile mark and battled hard over the final five miles to
beat the fast-finishing Bekele who had fallen behind after suffering with
blisters caused by ill-fitting shoes. "I am the happiest man in the world,"
said the Kenyan afterwards.
Both Bekele and Kipchoge, the second and third fastest men in history over
26.2 miles, will be back on the London start line in 2018 alongside
Britain's multiple world and Olympic track champion, Mo Farah, who became
the second fastest British marathon runner on his debut four years ago and
defeated Wanjiru in the Vitality Big Half in London last month.
Bekele and Kipchoge will start as the two fastest in the field, heading a
line-up that contains three who have run the distance under 2 hours 4
minutes and seven who have finished quicker than 2:06. Among them are five
World Marathon Majors winners and two former world champions.
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 an
agonising eight seconds away from the current world record of 2:02:57 when
he won again a year later.
"The Virgin Money 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 agonisingly
close to catching Wanjiru in the closing stages.
He is joined by compatriot Guye Adola who ran the fastest debut in history
when runner-up behind Kipchoge in Berlin last September. Having led the
race until the final few miles, the 27-year-old became the seventh quickest
marathoner of all time when he crossed the line in 2:03:46, just 14 seconds
after the winner.
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 and ran the fourth fastest half marathon in history in the
United Arab Emirates this February.
But they will be without Stanley Biwott, a former New York Marathon
champion who was runner-up behind Kipchoge in London two years ago. Biwott
has had to withdraw from the race with a left leg injury that prevented him
from training for two weeks.
Former world and New York champion, Ghirmay Ghebreslassie, is one of three
talented Eritreans in the line-up, while Farah heads a select British cast
that includes Rio Olympian Tsegai Tewelde and the fast-improving Jonny
Mellor.
While that pair will train their sights on selection for the European
Championships, Farah is focused on a bigger prize – breaking Steve Jones'
long-held British record of 2:07:13 and perhaps cracking the European
record of 2:05:48, a time that could well put him on the London Marathon
podium.
- 2018 Virgin Money London Marathon elite men's start list
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