Mary Keitany: Kenyan marathon world record holder retires at the age of 39 due to back injury
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
ByEurosport
Published 22/09/2021 at 14:54 GMT
Marathon runner Mary Keitany has brought her illustrious career to a close. Keitany came fourth at the London 2012 Olympic Games but went on to win the New York marathon four times and is the current world record holder for a women-only marathon. She also won gold at the 2009 World Half Marathon Championships.
Mary Keitany
Image credit: Getty Images
Kenyan marathon runner Mary Keitany has retired aged 39 due to a back injury.
Keitany is the world record holder for a women-only marathon with a time of two hours 17 minutes and one second which she set at the London Marathon in 2017.
Keitany has also won the New York Marathon on four occasions, but a back injury picked up in 2019 has convinced her to retire.
"Now is the time to say goodbye - if only as an elite runner - to the sport I love so much," she said.
"After my successful 2019, when I had some good results including second place in New York, I was hopeful that I could still be very competitive internationally for several more years even though I am in my late 30s.
"However, I'm sad to say, a back injury that I suffered in late 2019 made a decision about my retirement for me.
"I couldn't get the treatment I wanted in Europe because of the pandemic-related travel restrictions last year and every time I thought I had got over the injury and started training hard, it became a problem again.
As for the future, I haven't fully decided on my plans but I'm looking forward to spending more time with my family - my children are currently 13 and eight. In addition, I am involved with some local charitable enterprises.
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement