Chinese asked to pull out of Rotterdam marathon

There was no suggestion that Sun Yingjie or Jin-Li were infected with the virus, race director Mario Kadiks said, but the decision was made to allay unease among other athletes competing in the race.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which was first identified in the province of Guangdong in November, has killed more than 100 people worldwide and infected more than 2,500 others.

"It's a precautionary measure," Kadiks said. "We want to prevent any psychological concerns that top athletes might have during their stay in Rotterdam, where all the athletes will be in one hotel."

Sun came second in the 2002 Beijing marathon in a time of 02:21:21.

Kenya's athletics team pulled out of the Beijing Ekiden women's marathon earlier this month because of fears over the virus.