Sumgong seeks to retain London marathon title

LONDON: Kenya’s Olympic marathon champion Jemima Sumgong will defend her London title in April against one of the strongest fields ever assembled for a city race, having recovered from a fall to win last year, organisers said on Tuesday.

Sumgong, 32, cracked her head on the road three miles from the end of the 2016 race but bounced to her feet and fought back to take victory with a terrific late burst.

Four months later she became the first Kenyan woman to win Olympic marathon gold.

Compatriot Mary Keitany, who also fell after tangling with Sumgong but faded to ninth last year here, returns for the race on April 23 seeking a third win to match the hat-trick of New York City Marathon titles she completed last November.

Keitany, 35, became the second fastest women’s marathon runner of all time, behind Briton Paula Radcliffe, when she won her second London race in 2012 in 2:18:37 but her lowly finish last year cost her a spot in Kenya’s Rio Olympics team.

Ethiopia’s Mare Dibaba, who won bronze in Rio behind Bahrain’s Eunice Kirwa, is another big name in a lineup that includes all three medallists from last year’s race, three of the top five finishers in Rio, four previous London Marathon champions, and the winners at last year’s Abbott World Marathon Majors races in Tokyo, Berlin, Chicago and New York.

“London is the marathon every runner wants to win,” said Sumgong. “I can’t wait to return to defend my title.”