Jordan Chipangama’s bid for a third successive HSBC Bermuda Half-Marathon title has been dashed.

The Zambian runner has withdrawn from the Bermuda Marathon Weekend because of illness and is unable to defend his Half-Marathon title for the second straight year. He is also the HSBC Bermuda 10K champion.

Anthony Raynor, the Bermuda Marathon Weekend chairman and race director, said: “[Chipangama] is not going to be here because he is not well.”

The 26-year old runner is considered to be in the form of his life. During the past year he achieved a career best at the Grandma’s Marathon, in Duluth, Minnesota, where he was seventh in 2hr 12min 21sec.

As well as the 10K and Half-Marathon, Chipangama, who had been among a handful of invited elite overseas competitors, was also among the entries in this year’s KPMG Front Street Elite Mile.

The Zambian’s withdrawal is a huge setback as he had been billed as one of the main attractions for this year’s three-day road running spectacle that celebrates its 40th birthday this year.

“He is not going to be here,” Raynor added. “But the event will go on.

“Things happen, but we have to go on.”

Last year Chipangama produced his best showing in the Bermuda Marathon Weekend.

He won the 10K in a time of 30min 47sec and 24 hours later completed an impressive double in emphatic fashion by storming to victory in the Half-Marathon in a record time of 1hr 4min 21sec.

The Bermuda Marathon Weekend gets underway today with the KPMG Front Street Mile Races in Hamilton, beginning at 7pm with the school races.