Why marathon runner Brett Robinson wanted to tell Andy Buchanan he would be replacing him at Paris Olympics

There are few more punishing events on the Olympic calendar than the marathon.

But for Oceania record holder Brett Robinson, this year's event came with an even more brutal twist.

Just two weeks out from appearing in his third Olympics, Robinson had to make a "brutal" choice to withdraw from the Games due to an ongoing glute injury.

"It's something you think about for four years, or three years this time," Robinson told ABC Sport of the Olympics.

"It's always playing in your mind.

"Every decision in that last 12 months, in the back of mind [you're asking yourself], why is this helping me for the Olympics?"

The 'brutal' call

Living and breathing the Games for so long could take its toll on the best of minds, especially when things started to go wrong.

"I came over to Europe training, I was in France, up in the Alps, getting ready for this race and, unfortunately, after probably two weeks of training, I got a sore back just in one run.

"I had a bit of a few days off, got a scan and knew that I was going to be up against it.

"I got into some cross-training and thought I was going to be able to get back for it, things were progressing well and then, just as I got closer to the [Olympics] and knew it was time to do some more running, I did a run and [I knew] it just wasn't gonna be possible."

Robinson said the lead-up to making the decision, knowing in his heart of hearts that he was not able to run, was "brutal".

"The days before I was kind of dreaming about it, it was really playing on my mind," he said.

"I knew I had to do this test run and really see if it was gonna be OK, and the days before I was just so stressed out about it."

The time came, and the injury had not come good.

"I just got to the point where I'm like, 'Can I see myself on a 42K[ilometre run] feeling like this?'" he said.

"I was like, 'I can't do it and be happy with the performance.'"

And just like that, three years of hopes, three years of dreams, dashed in an instant.

"When it gets taken away, it makes it even more brutal because it is the one [event] that your primary school friends message you about,' Robinson said.

"When I ran the Oceania record like, they don't even know about it.

"But the Olympics, me going to the Olympics, that's something that your whole community's proud of."

While that is true, what his nearest and dearest should also be proud of is just how well he is taking the disappointment.

Not only is the 33-year-old in Paris, soaking up the Olympic Games in a way that he had been unable to do in either Rio or Tokyo, but also to support his training mates, at considerable personal expense.

And while there was obvious devastation for Robinson, what he did next really summed up why he is held in such high regard among his peers.

ABC Sport is live blogging every day of the Paris Olympics

The 'awkward' but 'happy' call

The Paris 2024 door closing for Robinson meant that it would open for someone else, Andy Buchanan, who will be making his Games debut.

Robinson wanted to be the person to tell Buchanan that he would be getting his chance.

"Andy's a good friend of mine, we've done a lot of training together," Robinson said.

"We actually went to Falls Creek in November to train for a marathon last year and he got injured up there, and I saw the heartbreak that he went through as well. 

"So I knew it would mean so much for him to go to the Olympics.

"It was a bit of an awkward call because he wanted to celebrate it, but he didn't want to at my demise. I was happy to call him and I think he really appreciated it.

"And, at the end of the day, I couldn't run. I was hurt. So it's not like I just like gifted him my spot. I just couldn't do it. 

"But I'm happy to see Andy [go].

"And also, the amount of support I got, I've had hundreds of messages of people saying bad luck and they're happy for Andy, so it's been a lot easier than I thought it would."

On the For The Kudos podcast Robinson runs with Joel Tobin-White, Buchanan said he was initially surprised when he saw that Robinson was calling him.

"It was a bit awkward because I didn't wanna be, obviously I was happy, but at the same time, I would wanna be here with Brett … and I can't imagine how it feels to be working towards this dream and then not be able to do it.

"It was really cool to get a call from Brett telling me."

Within 24 hours, he was on a plane to Montpelier and the Australian staging camp.

A 'brutal' course to level the playing field

Robinson had given Buchanan's coach a heads-up that his charge might need to be called upon, but essentially the 33-year-old Victorian will be coming in fresh to what promises to be a brutally hard marathon.

"Marathons are hard at the best of times, in perfect conditions," Robinson said.

"Now, you put in a hot place in the summer and on a hilly course, uphill and downhill, which will ruin people's legs, it's going to be brutal. 

"I think Andy will be OK though, he lives in Bendigo, he's training on the hills all the time, so I know he only had two weeks to prepare for this one [but] maybe Andy's coming in fresh and feeling good."

Robinson said the difficulty of the course should help level the playing field and bring the Australians into the race a bit more, and he was hoping for some "really strong runs" from the Aussies.

However, his favourites are two-time defending champion Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya and Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands.

"It's hard to go past Kipchoge, which is crazy to say because 21 years ago he was in Paris winning a world champs in the 5K," Robinson said.

"And I want to see what [Hassan] can do. Running three events [Hassan will run the 10km and marathon, and has already run in the 5km] is unheard of.

"[She's] already got a medal last night in the in the 5K, so. We'll see what she can do, but, she is a great athlete."