Kenya will wait until the spring marathons to name its final team for the London Olympics.

David Okeyo, the Athletics Kenya (AK) secretary general, said it is crucial to judge athletes keen to represent the country in London after April events especially in London, Boston and Rotterdam marathons.

Already world record holder Patrick Makau, who is also the Berlin marathon champion, Abel Kirui and Edna Kiplagat the world marathon champions have been named in the Kenyan team.

However, there have been top performances by Kenyan marathon athletes in the last quarter of 2011, which has left the selectors wondering on whom to pick to join the trio. Kenya like any other country must only enter three athletes in each cadre.

"We will have to wait as long as possible before finalizing on who will make the team. We have three names already which were named based on their excellent performances. Now we need to look carefully at the remaining three. Kenyans have won almost every top marathon race in Europe, Asia and America," Okeyo said on Sunday in Nairobi.

Such excellent athletes like Berlin champion Florence Kiplagat, Mary Keitany (winner in London), Geoffrey Kipsang (Frankfurt winner), Moses Mosop winner in Chicago, Caroline Kilel and Geoffrey Mutai (winners in Boston) and Emmanuel Mutai (London champion), have all set Olympic qualifying times but have to wait to know their verdict in regards to the Olympics.

This has forced many to think of alternative competitions with both (Geoffrey) Mutai and Kilel confirming that they will be defending their titles in Boston marathon in April.

At last year's race, Mutai produced a stunning performance, running the fastest Marathon under any conditions when he prevailed against a highly competitive field without the aid of pacesetters.

In a thrilling duel to the finish, Mutai outkicked his teammate Moses Mosop in the final meters to break the tape in 2:03:02 to Mosop's 2:03:06.

"I want to return to Boston to defend my title," said Mutai. "I very much liked the race in 2011, because I made the best time ever run in the marathon."

After his Boston win, Mutai continued to break barriers as he notched a 2:05:06 course record in November at the New York City Marathon.

With that double crown, he became the first man in history to break course records in Boston and New York City in the same year.

Boston's 2011 women's race was equally enthralling as fans from around the world saw Caroline Kilel trade the lead with American Desiree Davila several times.

Kilel ultimately triumphed by two seconds over Davila for the 2:22:36 win, before collapsing in exhaustion. The close finish marked the fourth consecutive year the women's race in Boston had been decided by three seconds or less.

"I have chosen the Boston Marathon because, of course, I had a good experience by winning in 2011," said Kilel, "I hope I can do the same this year."

With another podium finish, Kilel hopes to be named to the 2012 Kenyan Olympic Marathon Team.