Emmanuel Mutai Replaces Moses Mosop On Kenya’s Olympic Marathon Team

Emmanuel Mutai has been named to Kenya’s 2012 Olympic marathon team, replacing Moses Mosop, it was announced Tuesday. Mosop, winner of the 2011 Chicago Marathon and runner-up at last year’s Boston race, was forced to withdraw from the London Games with an injury to his Achilles tendon.

In Mutai, the Kenyan team is adding the winner of the 2011 London Marathon and the second-place finisher at the past two New York City marathons.

“Emmanuel Mutai was among the six marathoners we named in the provisional team. We did not want to go outside that list, and we think Mutai is best placed for that assignment,” Athletics Kenya secretary general, David Okeyo, told reporters on Tuesday.

In 2011, Mutai set the London course record, finishing in 2 hours, 4 minutes and 40 seconds (that’s a 4-minute, 45-second per-mile pace, which is insane when you think about it). Mosop finished seventh in the 10,000 meters at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Mutai joins a team with two-time defending world champion Abel Kirui and Wilson Kipsang, winner of the 2012 London Marathon.

How deep is Kenya’s marathon team? Their top two reserves are Patrick Makau, the marathon world record-holder (2:03:38), and Geoffrey Mutai, the winner of both the 2011 Boston and New York City marathons.

The men’s marathon at the 2012 Summer Olympics will be run on Aug. 12, 2012, the final day of the London Games.