Olympic winner joins stars in London Marathon

Italy's Olympic champion Stefano Baldini, Kenyan world record holder Paul Tergat and Moroccan world champion Jaouad Gharib will join a stellar field for the 25th Flora London Marathon next April.

Organisers revealed today that the trio will line up against the last five London champions - Evans Rutto, Gezahegne Abera, Khalid Khannouchi, Abdelkader El Mouaziz and Antonio Pinto. Race director David Bedford believes the race will be of even higher quality than the Olympic marathon. Sammy Korir, the second fastest marathon runner ever, was also announced today as a starter in the field for the 17 April classic, along with British No1 Jon Brown, who finished fourth in Athens.

"We could not wish for a more exclusive field to celebrate the 25th running of the race," said Bedford. "But watch this space - there's more to come."

Though he would not be drawn, his comment suggests that Haile Gebrselassie, the world's greatest-ever distance runner who ran his last track race in Athens, could yet be signed up to start his new marathon career in earnest.

The route has changed for 2005. The section on the rhythm-breaking cobbles near the Tower of London has been replaced with a quick route along The Highway and Tower Hill, supposedly making the course 45 seconds faster.

Still, though, organisers say there is no news of whether Paula Radcliffe will choose to run in London in the face of expected rival offers from Boston and Japanese promoters.