Athletics: Defending champ Kiplagat out of NY Marathon

Defending champion Edna Kiplagat of Kenya withdrew from next months New York Marathon with a left knee injury, handing Liliya Shobukhova the womens World Marathon Majors title.Race officials said that Kiplagat has been unable to fully recover from the knee injury she suffered in a fall during the marathon at the World Athletics Championships in South Korea, a race she went on to win last August.Unfortunately I am not in a position to defend my title, Kiplagat said in a statement. Unfortunately, the physical therapy and treatment I had to do for my knee after falling in Daegu took much more time than I expected.Although I am now able to train well and there is no lingering pain, the recovery and treatment took more or less the whole month of September. I was only able to train once a day in September.After talking with her husband-coach Gilbert Kiplagat, she decided that she would not be able to be in peak condition for the November 6 race.So the best decision is to withdraw from this years race, Kiplagat said. This was a very difficult decision, because of the great treatment I have received from everybody in New York during the past year, and also because the World Marathon Majors title is still undecided.But we think it is best to not run when I will not be at 100 percent.The decision hands Russias Shobukhova the $500,000 top prize for the World Marathon Majors series. Shobukhova will seek her third consecutive title at the Chicago Marathon on Sunday.Kiplagat won last years New York Marathon in 2 hours, 28 mins 20 secs, defeating American Shalane Flanagan by 20 seconds with Kenyan Mary Keitany third, 41 seconds adrift.