NEW YORK (Reuters) - Twice winner Martin Lel of Kenya has pulled out of Sunday's New York City Marathon because of a leg injury, organizers said on Wednesday.
The 31-year-old Lel, the 2003 and 2007 champion, was coming off victory in last month's Great North Half Marathon in England but a nagging injury began to bother him again, his manager said.
Lel had been considered one of the top contenders in a race that will feature holder and twice champion Marilson Gomes dos Santos of Brazil, double world champion Jaouad Gharib of Morocco and four-times Boston champion Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot of Kenya.
Russian Tatyana Petrova, winner of this year's Los Angeles Marathon, withdrew from the women's race due to illness.
(Reporting by Larry Fine, Editing by Ed Osmond)



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