Press Release - London Marathon - 1/26/11

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

                   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 

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