Ankle injury rules Ritz out of London
26 January 2011
Dathan Ritzenhein has been forced to withdraw from the 2011 Virgin London Marathon on Sunday 17 April with a persistent ankle injury.
The 28-year-old American, who was added to the elite men's line-up two weeks ago, was aiming to smash his personal best of 2 hours 10 minutes on the 26.2 mile course.
But an ankle injury sustained while training indoors in December has been slow to heal, and Ritzenhein and his coach Alberto Salazar believe he will not have time to do the necessary training for the sub-2:07 performance he had been hoping for.
David Bedford, race director of the Virgin London Marathon, said: "It is very disappointing to lose Dathan from this year's race. I know he was hoping to produce a fast time but unfortunately he has been beaten by injury. We wish him well and hope to see him in the future.
"The men's field is still one of the best we've ever had, including our defending champion Tsegaye Kebede, the Olympic champion Sammy Wanjiru and the world champion Abel Kirui. I am sure it will be a fantastic race."
Elite athletes and their best marathon times
Men
| Tsegaye Kebede | ETH | 2:05:18 |
| Patrick Makau | KEN | 2:04:48 |
| Samuel Wanjiru | KEN | 2:05:10 |
| Abel Kirui | KEN | 2:05:04 |
| Bazu Worku | ETH | 2:05:25 |
| Jaouad Gharib | MAR | 2:05:27 |
| Emmanuel Mutai | KEN | 2:06:15 |
| Viktor Röthlin | SUI | 2:07:23 |
| Abderrahime Bouramdane | MAR | 2:07:33 |
| Yonas Kifle | ERI | 2:07:34 |
| José Manuel Martinez | ESP | 2:08:09 |
| Marilson Gomes dos Santos | BRA | 2:08:37 |
| Lee Troop | AUS | 2:09:49 |
| Dmitry Safronov | RUS | 2:10:12 |
| Luis Feiteira | POR | 2:11:57 |
| Cuthbert Nyasango | ZIM | 2:12:40 |
| Ser-Od Bat-Ochir | MGL | 2:12:42 |
| Jason Lehmkuhle | USA | 2:12:54 |
| Mike Shelley | AUS | 2:13:05 |
| Michael Aish | USA | 2:13:21 |
| Andrew Lemoncello | GBR | 2:13:40 |
| Collis Birmingham | AUS | Debut |
| Mohamed Trafeh | USA | Debut |
| Javier Guerra | ESP | Debut |
| Stephan Shay | USA | Debut |
| Patrick Smyth | USA | Debut |
Women
| Liliya Shobukhova | RUS | 2:20:25 |
| Zhou Chunxiu | CHN | 2:19:51 |
| Irina Mikitenko | GER | 2:19:19 |
| Constantina Dita | ROU | 2:21:30 |
| Askale Tafa | ETH | 2:21:31 |
| Inga Abitova | RUS | 2:22:19 |
| Lornah Kiplagat | NED | 2:22:22 |
| Aselefech Mergia | ETH | 2:22:38 |
| Bezunesh Bekele | ETH | 2:23:09 |
| Bai Xue | CHN | 2:23:27 |
| Mariya Konovalova | RUS | 2:23:50 |
| Zhu Xiaolin | CHN | 2:23:57 |
| Aberu Kebede | ETH | 2:23:58 |
| Yukiko Akaba | JPN | 2:24:55 |
| Edna Kiplagat | KEN | 2:25:38 |
| Magdalena Lewy Boulet | USA | 2:26:22 |
| Liz Yelling | GBR | 2:28:33 |
| Lisa Weightman | AUS | 2:28:48 |
| Mary Keitany | KEN | 2:29:01 |
| Kirsten Melkevik | NOR | 2:29:12 |
| Fiona Docherty | NZL | 2:32:17 |
| Tanith Maxwell | RSA | 2:32:33 |
| Jo Pavey | GBR | Debut |
| Jessica Augusto | POR | Debut |
| Nikki Chapple | AUS | Debut |
| Hayley Yelling | GBR | Debut |
| Maria Sig Moller | DEN | Debut |
