Organisers of the TCS London Marathon have revealed their strongest ever line-up for their women’s event at the World Athletics Platinum Label road race on 23 April.
Among those taking part in the most star-studded race in the history of marathon running are defending champion and world 10km record-holder Yalemzerf Yehualaw, marathon world record-holder Brigid Kosgei and Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir.
In addition to that stellar trio, Olympic 5000m and 10,000m Sifan Hassan will be making her marathon debut, taking on former track rivals Genzebe Dibaba and Almaz Ayana.
Sifan Hassan, who won the world 1500m and 10,000m titles in 2019, already has some experience on the roads. She set a European half marathon record of 1:05:15 in 2018, and then ran two sub-66-minute half marathons in 2019.
Fellow Kenyan Jepchirchir will be making her first appearance in London. The two-time world half marathon champion has won her past five marathons – a streak that includes the Olympic Games in 2021, the New York Marathon later that year, and the 2022 Boston Marathon.
Ayana and Dibaba made their marathon debuts in Amsterdam last year. Ayana, the 2016 Olympic 10,000m champion, won in a course record of 2:17:20, while world 1500m record-holder Dibaba was second in 2:18:05.
The field also includes Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa, who won last year’s Berlin Marathon in a course record of 2:15:37 – a time which makes her the fifth-fastest marathon runner in history.
Britain’s Commonwealth 10,000m champion Eilish McColgan will be making her marathon debut, as will rising Ethiopian star Girmawit Gebrzihair, who ran a promising 1:04:14 on her half marathon debut last year.