Grieving marathon favourite Mikitenko pulls out of worlds

Germany's Irina Mikitenko, the gold medal favourite for the women's marathon at next week's world championships, withdrew from the event on Saturday following the death of her father.

The 36-year-old said she was in no condition to prepare for the championships just two weeks after her father passed away.

"Irina was nowhere near the level of form she had hoped for during her training camp at St Moritz," said German athletics technical director Jurgen Mallow.

"Her withdrawal has considerably weakened our team."

Mikitenko, the double London marathon winner, set the best time in the event this year of 2hr 22min 11sec.

She missed the Beijing Olympics because of injury.

The women's marathon at the world championships is set for August 23, the date of Mikitenko's 37th birthday.