Nienke Brinkman has unsubscribed from the Amsterdam Marathon. The Dutch top athlete is struggling with an injury, which means she will not appear at the start next Sunday.
The 29-year-old Brinkman explains her decision on Instagram. “I have made progress, but unfortunately I need more time to recover. That is why I have decided to fully recover and unfortunately not to start in Amsterdam.”
Brinkman had set himself the goal of reaching the limit in Amsterdam for the Olympic Games in Paris next year. That limit is 2 hours 26 minutes and 50 seconds. In Boston this spring, Brinkman finished well below that with 2.24.58, but the American course was not recognized by the Athletics Union. Last month Brinkman won the half marathon in Lugano, Italy.
The other Dutch favorites among the women are Jill Holterman (PR 2.28.18) from Egmond aan den Hoef and Dutch champion Ane Luijten (PR 2.30.59).