Kenya announce Olympic marathon squad

When it comes to Marathon runners, Kenya has an embarrassment of riches. Up to now, they had 278 men and 61 women who had reached the Olympic 'A' standard for London. The problem of course is that they can only send 3 men and 3 women.

Today, they finally announced their 6 athletes.

Men
Wilson Kipsang...Ran the second-fastest time in history with his 2:03:42 win in Frankfurt last October. Also won the London Marathon last weekend.
Abel Kirui...Set his PB of 2:05:04 in Rotterdam 2009 and won the World Championship in Daegu, South Korea last Autumn.
Moses Mosop...Debuted in Boston last year with 2:03:06 behind Geoffrey Mutai, both clocking the two fastest times in history, albeit on a downhill course with a tailwind. Went on to win the Chicago Marathon in October, then finished third and top Kenyan in this year’s Rotterdam Marathon. Has run no slower than 2:05:37.

Those not selected include world record-holder Patrick Makau, last year’s London Marathon winner Emmanuel Mutai, last year’s Boston and New York champion Geoffrey Mutai.

The women’s team comprises the trio of athletes who filled the top three spots at last weekend’s London Marathon –
Priscah Jeptoo...Won the silver in the World Championships Daegu last year. Smashed her PB by more than two and a half minutes in London last weekend to finish third with 2:20:14.
Mary Keitany...She won the 2011 London Marathon in 2:19:19. Improved on that last weekend to defend her title with an African record of 2:18:36, making her the third-fastest woman in history.
Edna Kiplagat...Won the 2010 New York title, then became world champion in 2011, leading a Kenyan sweep of the medals. Improved her PB to 2:19:50 when finishing second to Keitany last weekend in London.

Berlin champion Florence Kiplagat and Dubai second-placer Lucy Kabuu – both recent sub-2:20 runners – were among the top names who missed out.