Olympic hopeful Geoffrey Kamworor of Kenya will not be running the 2023 New York City Marathon as a result of an injury.
Kamworor is a two-time New York City Marathon champion (2017, 2019) and has also finished second (2015) and third (2019).
Kamworor hoped to use the New York City Marathon to lock in his place on Kenya’s marathon team for the upcoming 2024 Olympics in Paris. However, the Kenyan sustained a pelvic stress fracture a few weeks ago, putting him out for about seven weeks.
“I had hoped to compete and win in New York again, which would have put me in a good position to be selected in Team Kenya for Paris Olympics,” said Kamworor. “I am still optimistic. I won’t lose hope.”
However, his hopes of representing Kenya could be shattered with his scratch, as Athletics Kenya could name its team as early as next month for the Paris Olympics.
Team Kenya has a deep field of healthy and talented marathoners to select from, including the world record holder Kelvin Kiptum and former world record holder Eliud Kipchoge.
Injuries throughout his career have hampered Kamworor. The Kenyan was named to Team Kenya for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games in the 10,000m race. After running the fastest time on Kenyan soil at the Olympic trials (27:01), he was a promising favorite at the Olympics.
However, an ankle injury from a previous accident was aggravated in Tokyo and forced Kamworor to withdraw. It wasn’t until December 2021 that Kamworor would make a return to competition, finishing fourth at the Valencia Marathon.
Kamworor was poised to come into the New York City Marathon carrying momentum from an excellent season so far.
His success this year began early in March when he finished fourth at the World Cross Country Championships. He was the top-finishing Kenyan at the meet.
He took part in the London Marathon this year, where he finished in second place behind current world record holder Kelvin Kiptum and ran a personal best time of 2:04:23.
Kamworor is said to be returning home to Kenya to focus on recovery before beginning training and preparations for his 2024 spring marathon ahead of the Olympic Games.
Kamworor is not the only notable scratch from the New York City Marathon. Defending champion Evans Chebet will not be at the start, so a new champion will certainly be crowned.
Ethiopian runners Mosinet Geremew, Goytom Tekilezeg, and Yalemzerf Yehualaw have all withdrawn from the race.
Geremew is a two-time world championship silver medalist. Tekilezeg is the 2022 marathon world champion. Yehualaw won the women’s 2022 London Marathon.
The New York City Marathon still boasts a deep field and is the final race of the 2023 Abbott World Major Marathons. The race will take place on Sunday, November 5th, with a local start time of 8:00 AM.
