London Marathon 2014: Jeptoo, Gelana and Dibaba in strong field

Tirunesh Dibaba London Marathon

Kenyan Priscah Jeptoo will face Olympic champion Tiki Gelana and world champion Edna Kiplagat as she bids to defend her London Marathon title.

The 29-year-old, who won last year’s New York Marathon, will also race against double 10,000m Olympic champion Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia.

In all, eight athletes declared for the race in April have personal best times of under two hours 25 minutes.

Gelena, also Ethiopian, set an Olympic record of 2:23:07 at London 2012.

Jeptoo produced a personal best of 2:20.15 to win last year, with Gelana suffering a fall midway through the race.

“Our champion was a deserved winner of the World Marathon Majors title last year,” said London marathon race director Hugh Brasher.

“She has shown with her performances over the last two years that she will be extremely difficult to beat.”

Great Britain’s Paula Radliffe still holds the world record for the 26.2-mile marathon distance with a 2:15:25 time set in 2003.