Radcliffe says she won't run in pain
Thursday May 22, 2008

By Gary Smith

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida, USA -- Great Britain's World marathon record holder Paula Radcliffe has said she will not push herself to run in pain at this summer's Olympic Games in Beijing China.

The 34-year-old who reportedly had been suffering from a hip injury and was told by specialists, following two MRI scans that what she has an "atypical femural compression" and she would not be ready for Beijing.

"The bottom line is it's not ideal and some specialists have said with the training I need to put in it would be impossible," Radcliffe said. "I will give myself every chance but I won't run through pain and I won't go if I feel I can't be competitive.

"It's going to go down to the wire and I will need a bit of luck. It has been a nightmare last three weeks, extremely emotional and extremely hard.

"It's bad enough when it's an Olympic year but it's even worse when you don't know exactly what you're dealing with."

Radcliffe, who has been training in the pool lately, strongly believes that she could be 90-percent ready in August.

However, she said she would only compete if she knows she would be competitive.

"It's not good news and not the news I wanted to hear, but I will give myself every chance," she said, referring again to the scans she had.

"The crucial period would be building up to the high mileage," she said.

"I will have to be totally honest with myself because you lose more than you gain by trying to run when you shouldn't."

If she is forced to withdraw from Beijing, it would be the second successive Olympic year of bad luck for the Brit, after she failed to finish at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

Nonetheless, she said even at 38, she could still be competitive, as she looked towards a possible 2012 target.

"I still think that is a viable option for me," she said. "Marathon runners can still be in good shape at 38."