World and Olympic record holder in the 10,000m and 5,000m Joshua Cheptegei will not be taking part in the 2022 Great North Run.
The Ugandan athlete through his social media announced his withdrawal from the half marathon event due to an injury.
Cheptegei, 25, a World and Olympic champion, also missed the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games because of an injury.
Also Read: Athletes Who Currently Hold More Than 2 World Records
“It is with great sadness that I have to withdraw from Sunday's Great North Run. I was really looking forward to competing in this historic race, but an injury won't allow me to compete. I look forward to competing there in the future,” his tweet read.
With the withdrawal of Cheptegei, the race is left with two top athletes, Selemon Barega (Ethiopia) and Jacob Kiplimo (Uganda).
Barega who is the current Olympic 10,000m Champion will be participating in his first official half marathon.
Kiplimo holds the World Half marathon record and recently scooped two gold medals in the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham after winning in the 5,000m and 10,000m events.
The Great North Run in the past has been graced by top athletes like Paul Tergat, Gebreselassie, Mo Farah and Kenenisa Bekele.
Kenyan runners Martin Mathathi and Mary Keitany hold the record of Great North Run record for men and women respectively.
Mathathi set the record in September 2011, after finishing with a time of 58:56 while Mary Keitany set the record in September 2014 after running with a time of 1:05:39.
The Half marathon event is scheduled to take place on Sunday, September 11, in the United Kingdom.
Also Read: 2 Kenyans Pocket KSH7.2 Million on the Opening Day of Diamond League Final