NAIROBI, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Former London marathon bronze medalist Bedan Karoki says he rues the withdrawal of injured Ethiopian star Kenenisa Bekele from Tokyo marathon.
However, Karoki who trains in Ngong area, in the outskirts of Nairobi, says Bekele's withdrawal will not water down the level of competition adding that beating defending champion Dickson Chumba will be hard.
"I was not focused training to beat Bekele alone. He was one of the star athletes, but has not had a good performance in marathon for a long time. I have raced against him twice in London and I beat him. Now he was not in my plans," Karoki said on Wednesday in Nairobi.
The Ethiopian set a national record of 2:03:03 when winning the 2016 Berlin marathon, but he has struggled in some of his races since then.
He failed to finish in Dubai in 2017 but rebounded to finish second in London in 2:05:57 three months later.
He then withdrew from the Berlin marathon in 2017 before returning to action at the 2018 London marathon, where he finished sixth in 2:08:53 with Karoki finishing fifth. Bekele then failed to finish at the Amsterdam marathon in October 2018.
"I know it will be hard in Tokyo, but I am prepared with or without Bekele. I finish my training on Thursday and then depart for Tokyo on Friday," said Karoki.
On Wednesday, Bekele said he was withdrawing from the Tokyo marathon due to a stress fracture in one of his legs. His medical team said Kenenisa needs to focus on rehabilitating fully before returning to training.
"I am sad not to run in Tokyo because I need to focus on my recovery. I have been experiencing discomfort since the Amsterdam marathon in October and was unable to recover from this injury in time," said Bekele in a statement on Wednesday.
"I am hungry and motivated to still achieve big results on the marathon as I know what I am still capable of when my body can fully co-operate. It is therefore that I must now take the time to recover fully, get healthy in order for me to achieve the goals that I have left to prove for myself on the marathon."
Bekele is confident that with a strong and healthy body he is able to flash his greatness once again.
"My body is starting to feel that I have over 20 years of the highest level in sports in my body. Injuries have plagued my move to the marathon a little bit but I have also really great memories since becoming a marathoner. My time in Berlin for example but also my win in Paris are races that I am really proud of."
"I have a desire and dreams that I have left to achieve and I am not finished with the marathon. If I didn't had the fire burning anymore I would have walked away already. My full focus now is on becoming 100 per cent healthy and in shape so that I can reach my goals."
