Peres Jepchirchir revealed on Tuesday that she will not participate in the London Marathon on April 26 due to an unspecified stress fracture that delayed the start of her training block.
Race organizers also confirmed that she will miss the race.
“After racing in Valencia, I was diagnosed with a stress fracture and I was only able to resume training in late January,” Jepchirchir said. “I know that to be competitive at the TCS London Marathon you have to be at your top level and despite my best efforts, I’m just short of that due to my lack of training.”
Jepchirchir, the current marathon world champion, also pulled out of last year’s London Marathon because an ankle injury after roaring to a 2:16:16 women-only world record stunner at the race in 2024.
At last year’s world championships in Tokyo she matched Tigst Assefa stride after stride in the closing moments of the women’s marathon as the race entered Japan National Stadium. Assefa surged in the final 100m but Jepchirchir bolted ahead and grabbed the win in 2:24:43.
Jepchirchir is the second marquee name in the women’s field to drop out after Sifan Hassan said late last month that an Achilles issue would sideline her from the race.
“I am disappointed because this race means so much to me but right now my Achilles is holding me back and I’m not ready to be at my best,” Hassan said in a social media post. “I wish everyone racing an amazing day out there!”
Hassan said she had an “unfortunate incident while training on the treadmill” and that the injury, which was though to be minor, continued to persist and she simply could not make progress in time.
Still, the women’s group will feature plenty of power at the start line as defending champion Assefa takes on Joyciline Jepkosgei, Hellen Obiri and Degitu Azimeraw in the final spring major marathon of the year.
