Paul Tergat won the New York City marathon last November, and has been training really well in the lead up to next weekend’s London Marathon. Tergat had to pull out of the London Marathon at the last minute, though, due to a calf injury.

Tergat said: “What shocked me is how late it came. I was due to fly to London on Wednesday and this problem only came on Monday. I trained really well all day, felt fine when I trained in the evening and went to sleep. In the morning I woke up with a lot of pain. I tried to train but I couldn’t walk afterwards. I flew to Italy to get some treatment and therapy but it didn’t work. There was no indication of anything wrong in training – I’d had my best period of training ever.”

Paul Tergat is going to miss what is shaping up to be a great race. Haile Gebrselassie, Stefano Baldini, Jaouad Gharib, and Martin Lel make up what should be a very competitive race.

You hate to see anybody miss the race they have trained for and attempted to peak at, whether it is a local 5k or a world class marathon. Injuries are never fun to deal with. I hope that Paul Tergat is able to bounce back quickly and that the field is as demanding next year when he returns.

(Quote from the BBC)