Australia’s world championships squad has been cut down again after marathon record-holder Andy Buchanan was forced to pull out, just days after Olympic gold medallist Nina Kennedy’s sudden withdrawal.
Buchanan prioritised representing Australia at the global event over appearing at the Sydney Marathon’s recent debut as a major but his plans hit a snag last month.
The 34-year-old was diagnosed with a stress reaction in his femur and told by his doctor he should rest for three weeks.
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They came to a compromise to have a full week off, but his return to running failed to yield the desired result ahead of the September 15 marathon in Tokyo.
“Unfortunately no World Champs for me this year,” Buchanan wrote on Monday night.
“Big thanks to everyone for the support, especially those in Bendigo.”
Buchanan ran the fastest marathon by an Australian last December (2:06:22, 16th) and has since competed at the London Marathon in April (2:09:11, 11th overall) before winning the Gold Coast half-marathon (1:01:08) and Sunshine Coast half-marathon (1:02:13) through the winter.
He said last month he was feeling “awesome” but was quickly reminded about the “ups and downs” of the sport.
Buchanan’s concerns started with what he thought was a tight hip flexor, only for an MRI to uncover the stress reaction.
“You don’t expect to hear that stuff and you’re just like, when you think about what the next month looks like, I was super excited, because you just think of all the good stuff,” he said.
“My sports doc was like, look, this is a three-week injury. You need a rest for three weeks. That’s not the answer you want to hear.
“I was like, well, no, but you’re my doctor, so you need to tell me.”
Buchanan said at the time it was “still very raw” but conceded he had already flipped his mindset.
“There’s no point just sitting in my hotel room hating life,” he said.
“The facts are there now, and I actually felt better when I got the results because in my head I was just spiralling a bit, going to worst-case scenario.”
He said he initially sought to emulate his friendly rival Brett Robinson’s gesture from the Paris Olympics last year.
Robinson made the early call to pull out of Paris 2024 to give Buchanan the chance to compete for Australia, personally phoning him to deliver the news.
This time round Buchanan checked in with Australian Athletics to see if anyone else had qualified for the world championships and could race in his place.
But that was not the case.
“They’re like, no, you literally have until the hour before the race to decide what you want to do,” he said.
Buchanan persisted with his plan of heading up to Cairns for a training camp but completed minimal running over the past week, prompting Monday’s withdrawal.
Tim Vincent and Liam Boudin remain locked in for the men’s marathon at the world championships,
Buchanan’s exit follows Kennedy revealing she strained a muscle in her leg in one of her last training sessions.
“Not the news I want to be sharing,” she said last week.
“I’m sad to say I’ll be withdrawing from the world championships.
“Even though I’m disappointed, I’m proud of myself for trying to get back and put myself in the best position to jump high at worlds. I can genuinely say I did everything I could, I gave it a red-hot crack and that in itself is a measure of success.
“Sport can be brutal, but injuries are just part of the journey, and that’s okay.”
Kennedy underwent a hamstring operation in April after three strains in quick succession but the latest complaint is “not near the surgery site”.
Buchanan and Kennedy join dual Olympic bronze medallist Jemima Montag and sprint star Lachie Kennedy on the sidelines for the worlds.
Montag last month announced she required a similar hamstring surgery to Kennedy’s operation.
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