Britain’s David Weir and Shelly Woods will also be among those racing in the elite-only event on October 4

Defending champions Daniel Romanchuk and Manuela Schär lead the wheelchair fields for the elite-only Virgin Money London Marathon on Sunday October 4.

As announced earlier this month, the 2020 London Marathon will not feature a mass race and the elite racing will take place within a “secure biosphere” in St James’s Park.

Athletes will cross the same traditional finish line on The Mall after completing 19.8 laps of the St James’s Park course and the elite race day schedule can be found here.

The USA’s Romanchuk won the Boston, London, Chicago and New York marathons last year on his way to winning the Abbott World Marathon Majors Series XII title.

The only man to get the better of Romanchuk in the past 18 months is Switzerland’s Marcel Hug, who beat the 22-year-old at the 2019 Tokyo Marathon.

Hug, a two-time London Marathon winner and the reigning Berlin Marathon champion, will also be racing in London, as will Britain’s eight-time London Marathon champion David Weir, who will be taking part in the event for the 21st time.

Also in the men’s field are the 2020 Tokyo Marathon champion Sho Watanabe and the 2010 London Marathon champion Josh Cassidy.

In the women’s field, Switzerland’s Schär will be looking to continue her own incredible run of success. The 35-year-old, who is the world record-holder, won nine Abbott World Marathon Major races in a row before missing the 2020 Tokyo Marathon in March.

Meanwhile, the two-time London Marathon champion, British record-holder and 2012 Paralympic silver medallist Shelly Woods makes her first return to the event in four years following the birth of her son, Leo.

“This is an incredible line-up for what will be a unique Virgin Money London Marathon on Sunday October 4,” said event director Hugh Brasher.

“Wheelchair racing on a closed-loop course around St James’s Park is an amazing spectacle and with the very best athletes on the planet coming to London to compete, it promises to be one we will never forget.”

Elite wheelchair fields

Daniel Romanchuk (USA)
Marcel Hug (SUI)
David Weir (GBR)
Josh Cassidy (USA)
Heinz Frei (SUI)
Hiroki Nishida (JPN)
Kota Hokinoue (JPN)
Rafael Botello Jimenez (ESP)
Jordi Madera (ESP)
Sho Watanabe (JPN)
James Senbeta (USA)
Simon Lawson (GBR)
Brent Lakatos (CAN)
John Boy Smith (GBR)
Callum Hall (GBR)

Manuela Schär (SUI)
Shelly Woods (GBR)
Jenna Fesemyer (USA)
Margriet van den Broek (NED)
Michelle Wheeler (USA)
Nikita den Boer (NED)
Patricia Fachu (SUI)