Covid-19 halts Olympic marathon

HAMBURG: Kenya's Olympics medal favourite Eliud Kipchoge must wait at least a week more to return to action as the Hamburg Marathon was postponed from April 11 due to coronavirus restrictions in the city.

The 2016 Rio Olympics champion Kipchoge finished a surprise eighth in the London Marathon in October and planned to use the Hamburg race as his final preparation for the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games that begin on July 23.

But organisers of Hamburg said Wednesday the race, already limited to elite only, could not take place as planned. An alternative course was being sought for a provisional competition date of April 18, reports DPA. The traditional date for Hamburg marathon is September 12.

"The NN Mission Marathon race in Hamburg will be postponed to 18 April. Due to the current local COVID-19 situation the organisation is forced to find an alternative location for the race," read a statement from the organisers.

The world record holder Kipchoge said that he will continue training.

"Over the past months we have learned that we need to be flexible and stay positive. With this in mind, I thank everybody involved, keep working hard with positive minds to find a good alternative," Kipchoge wrote on his twitter handle. (IANS)

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