Mary Keitany retires from athletics
Mary Keitany announced her retirement at the age of 39 because of a back injury. The Kenyan marathon runner still holds the world record for women's marathon with a time of two hours, 17 minutes and one second.
It has earned her a third win in the London Marathon back in 2017. However, now, she said that it's time to say goodbye. "After my success in 2019, I had some good results, including the second place in New York. I was hoping that I could still continue and be competitive internationally for at least a few years, despite the fact I'm in my 30s." - Keitany added.
However, her back injury she sustained in 2019 forced her to change her opinion and make a decision about retirement. She was unable to get a treatmant in Europe which she wanted for the pandemic-related reasons and restrictions for travelling.
Every time she thought she recovered, she started training again but every time it came back as a problem. She still didn't fully decided on her plans for the future but she is at least, looking forward to spending more time with her family - children who are now 13 and eight.