Long-distance running world champion and Olympic gold medalist Kenenisa Bekele from Ethiopia has withdrawn from the coming London Marathon because of a calf injury, announced the event's organizing committee on Friday.

Bekele, 38, won gold in London last year with 2:01:41, only two seconds short of the unofficial world record kept by Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge. Many had been looking forward to the competition between the two but it won't happen in London this year.

"I have been having treatment every day since then and I truly believed I would be ready, but today it is worse and I now know I cannot race on it," posted Bekele on social media on Friday.

Traditionally London Marathon was supposed to happen in April but it was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic and moved to a looped course in St. James's Park. Only elite runners were allowed to attend men's, women's and wheelchair's races.

Kipchoge has participated in 12 marathons in his career and won 11 of them. Two years ago in Berlin, he finished the competition at 2:01:39, setting a new world record. Last year in October, Kipchoge coovered a full marathon race distance in 1:59:40. Though it was not recognized as a new world record, Kipchoge proved that a human can finish a full marathon within two hours.

Though Bekele has never beaten Kipchoge in marathon events, he has more Olympic honors in long-distance running competitions. His marathon debut took place in 2014 and he achieved his best record in Berlin in 2016 at 2:03:03.

"This race was so important to me. My time in Berlin last year gave me great confidence and motivation and I was looking forward to show that again, I have worked so hard for it. I realize many people around the world have been looking forward to this race," wrote Bekele.