Catherina McKiernan's unlucky season held another major disappointment yesterday when a damaged Achilles tendon forced her to withdraw from the London Marathon on April 18th.

The injury denies her the chance of a pay-day well in excess of £100,000 and also the opportunity of joining an elite group of athletes who have won the race in consecutive years.

The injury, a well-kept secret in the camp, was sustained in training at Malahide a week last Sunday. After physiotherapy, she attempted to run again last Tuesday, but discovered that it had improved only marginally.

With a fortnight to go to the race, she could have gambled on making a late decision but after consulting with her coach, Joe Doonan, she decided to pull out yesterday.

"The risk was too great," said a member of her entourage. "Her foot may or may not have held up in the race, but that was a gamble she simply couldn't afford to take.

"It is pointless to speculate when she will run again. Obviously, she will get more treatment in the coming weeks, but we will just have to wait and see how the injury settles."

McKiernan, the world's top-rated woman in marathon running, has stumbled from one mini-crisis to another since making it three wins out of three starts at Amsterdam on November 1st. In the course of a race in which she was within three minutes of a world record and a £400,000 bonus, she sustained a knee injury which required an operation and kept her out of action until March.

She marked her return by winning a half marathon at Paris but then, unexpectedly, abandoned plans for a three-week training course in the Algarve on the grounds that no suitable training facilities were available. A scheduled 10,000 metres race last Sunday also failed to materialise after she claimed that she couldn't find a suitable event, but in the light of yesterday's news, that was never a possibility.

Depending on the length of her recovery, she may now have no more than one competitive marathon before the Sydney Olympics which remain her top priority.

In the meantime, the London race, in which she was due to oppose Fernanda Ribeiro and Elena Meyer among others, has undoubtedly been devalued by her withdrawal.