The 2026 London Marathon, scheduled to start on April 26, 2026, has again lost a high-profile elite athlete — this time last year’s Tokyo World Championships women’s marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir announced today that she is withdrawing from the race. After the Valencia Marathon in December 2025, Jepchirchir suffered a stress fracture. The injury disrupted her training, preventing adequate preparation for the London Marathon and forcing changes to her race schedule, so she has decided to focus on recovery. The 32-year-old Kenyan Jepchirchir is one of the world’s top marathoners, holding both the Olympic and World Championship women’s marathon titles, and has won the women’s titles at the New York, Boston and London Marathons. In the 2024 London Marathon she set the women-only marathon world record at 2:16:16. Before Jepchirchir, Sifan Hassan also withdrew from the London Marathon due to a training accident. From the originally star-studded women’s elite list, the most competitive now is undoubtedly last year’s women’s champion Tigst Assefa. However, 2025 Valencia champion Joyciline Jepkosgei (PB 2:14), Boston and New York double champion Hellen Obiri, and Megertu Alemu remain ones to watch — what times will they produce on this fast course? #PeresJepchirchir#LondonMarathon#OlympicChampion#WorldChampion#WomenOnlyWorldRecord