Brigid Kosgei cites 'hamstring problem' as reason for London Marathon disappointment

World women’s marathon record holder Brigid Kosgei has cited a hamstring problem she sustained a few weeks ago as the reason she exited early from Sunday’s London marathon.

“The last few weeks were very complicated with a problem to my hamstring,” Kosgei posted on her social media platforms on Sunday evening. “But in the last week everything went better and I hoped I could handle the problem. Training, until the problem came, was great.”

Kosgei was part of a studded field of women athletes who lined up for the London marathon on Sunday morning when disaster struck.

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics silver medalist started off the race with a notable limp and - with four minutes on the clock- stepped out of the race early, clutching what looked to be the lower part of her leg and didn't return, throwing her attempt to double her London marathon wins into smoke.

“In the warm up I felt pretty good but as the race started at that high pace, the pain came on very quickly and strongly and I just couldn’t handle it from the beginning,” she wrote.

The unfortunate event adds up to a series of misfortunes the 2021 Tokyo Marathon winner has had to deal with in the past few years.

Kosgei last year developed a knee injury that forced her out of the 2022 London marathon that was won by Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw and was hopeful that the 2023 London Marathon would provide an opportunity for her to recover.

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“I am just from having a week’s rest after suffering a slight hamstring injury that came up some two weeks ago,” Kosgei told Lets Run.com on Friday ahead of the race. “All the way, my training was going good until two weeks ago when I developed a hamstring injury. I have since had to take a week off to recover and I feel good now.”

She went on to apologize to her fans and organizers of the race saying: “Today was a very bad day for me and I am very sorry for all my fans and especially for the organizers of the London Marathon.”