9/27/2023 0 Comments Download paula radcliffe![]() It is unlikely she would have challenged for a medal, although she would have believed she could, but to have run in London and to have finished with her head held high after all the heartache she has had in previous Olympic marathons would have been very important to her."īut this was always about more than one final tilt at a place on the podium that had eluded her as a 22-year-old in Atlanta, by a single place in Sydney, to devastating effect in the fierce heat of Athens and once again in the smog and humidity of Beijing. Radcliffe was hampered in Austria by antibiotics she was taking for a persistent bout of bronchitis, something which would have no impact on a race three months later, yet even then she was 12-1 for gold here in London with several bookmakers. While her last marathon, the 2 hours 23 mins 46 secs she ran for third in Berlin last autumn, gave hope of a fairytale flourish this summer in a city where she has never lost over the distance, her only subsequent performance of note was a hugely disappointing 72-minute showing in a Vienna half-marathon in April. The problem was form, fitness and recent runs. The last two Olympic marathons have also both been won in a relatively stately two hours 26 minutes - 11 minutes outside Radcliffe's own extraordinary world record. Constantina Dita won marathon gold in Beijing at 38, the same age Radcliffe is now. Radcliffe was an outside bet for her first Olympic medal in her fifth Games before her degenerative foot condition flared up again in early June.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |