Press Release - London Marathon - 4/16/19

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

   Tirunesh Dibaba withdraws from 2019 Virgin Money London Marathon

Ethiopia's Tirunesh Dibaba has withdrawn from the 2019 Virgin Money London 
Marathon for personal reasons.

The three-time Olympic champion and current 5,000m world record holder was 
second in the 2017 Virgin Money London Marathon when she set a personal 
best (PB) of 2:17:56, making her the fifth fastest female marathon runner 
in history.

Dibaba, 33, is one of a handful of notable changes to the fields for the 
elite men and elite women races since they were first released at the end 
of January.

2019 Virgin Money London Marathon start lists

USA's Allie Kiefer, who was seventh at last November's TCS New York City 
Marathon, has withdrawn as has Denmark's Anna Holm Jorgensen – the daughter 
of Henrik Jorgensen, the 1988 London Marathon champion who died earlier 
this year.

Swiss pair Maude Mathys and Martina Strahl have both also pulled out, as 
has Ireland's Emma Mitchell and the British duo Eleanor Davis and Laura 
Graham.

In the elite men's race, North American pair Chris Derrick (USA) and Cam 
Levins (CAN) are the biggest name withdrawals while Mikael Ekvall (SWE) and 
Matt Sharp (GBR) are both also no longer running.

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