NAIROBI, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Former London Marathon champion Prisca Jeptoo is counting her losses.
She pushed her body beyond limit to be ready for the Paris Marathon, but like many sports events across the globe, it has been postponed to October due to the COVID-19 threat.
Jeptoo, who returned from maternity leave early last year, has to endure a knee injury in the last four months and was looking up to win her first marathon in three years.
"I went above normal to prepare, push my body to the limit because I wanted to use the race to gauge myself and prepare for other big city marathons," Jeptoo said on Tuesday in Nairobi.
But with the uncertainty over possible lockdown of international sports and foreign transport Jeptoo like many other sportsmen is unsure when she will run next.
"I have no idea when the next race will be. The coronavirus is global and we have to wait for the health experts to give us the okay. I will return to training hoping that sooner than later, I will be running again," she added.
Felix Kipkoech and Irine Kimais too were preparing for Paris half marathon, which was due this weekend.
They had even traveled to the French capital for their debut having spent over three months to fine tune their fitness. Now, all that will be of waste.
The half marathon was cancelled over fears of the deadly virus that has killed over 3,300 people worldwide.
"I had cleared my preparation and traveled to Paris. Then the news came through that the race has been cancelled due to the coronavirus. I was disappointed," said Kipkoech.
At stake was 500,000 shillings (5,000 U.S. dollar) prize for the winner, which Kipkoech was certain would have been credited to his account.
For the main Paris Marathon, the prize pot is 40,000 US dollars.
"We were told by the race organizer that the (French) government had decided to cancel the race because the number of those affected by the virus was rising," Kipkoech added.
Now even Barcelona Marathon, which was due to take place on Sunday has been postponed to October, due to coronavirus.
Last week, the Rome Marathon was cancelled. In England, the organizers of London Marathon have said they are monitoring the situation.
"Our very own livelihood is threatened. With no sport, we will not earn. The virus is bad and it will affect our economy and others too. Nobody is indispensable now," said Kimais.
