By David Monti
(c) 2013 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved, use with permission

HONOLULU (07-Dec) -- Four-time Olympian Abdi Abdirahman has been forced to withdraw from tomorrow's 41st Honolulu Marathon with a knee injury, he revealed here today.  The tendon on the outside of his left knee is visibly swollen, and Abdirahman, 36, has been unable to run sinceWednesday, despite resting his leg and receiving treatment here.

"When I got in from the airport on Wednesday I felt a little tight and I was going to go for a little jog," Abdirahman told Race Results Weekly in a brief interview.  "My I.T. (iliotibial) band was bothering me and I was saying, you know, it's going to get better in a couple of days, get treatment, get massage, ibuprofen."

But the treatment didn't help, he said, including a trip to a local chiropractor yesterday.  He said running even very short distances is impossible because of the discomfort.

"Never mind 26 miles," he lamented. "It's going to be hard for me to run one mile."  He continued: "I'm having a hard time jogging."

Abdirahman was the top American entered in the field here, which boasts top Kenyans like three-time London Marathon champion Martin Lel --who is trying to rebound from dropping out of the New York City Marathon last Month--  and two-time Honolulu Marathon winner Nicholas Chelimo.  Abdirahman, who has a personal best of 2:08:56 set in Chicago in 2006, said that he hopes the injury clears up soon and he can return to serious competition in January, including the USA Half-Marathon Championships in Houston on January 19.

"To be honest, I just talked to Jean-Paul, my physio, and he said that it could be something that you could knock out in three days," he said.  He added: "I'm just hoping that it's not serious, and that it will be done by the next week or two."

Like his Olympic teammate Ryan Hall, Abdirahman hasn't completed a marathon since finishing third at the USA Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston in January, 2012.  He dropped out of the London Olympic Marathon citing leg pain.  He told Race Results Weekly here that he had done excellent training for Honolulu, and having to pull out was a very difficult decision.

"That's sports," said the usually easy-going athlete.  "Sometimes things come up when you least expect it."