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Paula Radcliffe deserves to be remembered as a great - Laura Williamson

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‘Money-loving drama queen’ was one of the more printable descriptions of Paula Radcliffe last week after she raised the possibility she might never again be able to run competitively.

‘Just retire and shut up’ and ‘Choker’ were two other common themes among the vitriol spouted at the 39-year-old mother-of-two on internet message boards. Praise was frighteningly rare for a woman who has held the world marathon record for two weeks short of a decade.

Let’s just dwell on that, shall we: the two hours, 15 minutes and 25 seconds in which Radcliffe covered the 26.2 miles of the London Marathon course on April 13, 2003. Just think about that extraordinary, jaw-dropping time. No woman has come close to beating it, apart from Radcliffe herself, who has also run the second and third fastest times in history. Oh, and with an undiagnosed fracture in her left foot.

Grit and determination: Paula Radcliffe seemed to fight with marathon courses

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Radcliffe has also won world, European and Commonwealth titles but an Olympic medal is missing from her collection. In this sporting world in which podium places rule and fourth is deemed failure, Radcliffe, the pre-eminent female distance runner of her generation, is dismissed as a ‘choker’.

Unless Radcliffe was standing on a podium with God Save The Queen blaring out in the background the majority were just not bothered. ‘Our’ athletes should run for us, for medals, for their country. Not in the pursuit of individual glory, providing for their families or being the fastest there has been. It is such a parochial attitude.

It was never a particularly pleasurable experience to watch Radcliffe grinding out the miles, head nodding, fixed in battle with the Tarmac while Brendan Foster wittered on in the background. Radcliffe did not glide around marathon courses; she fought with them. She won, most of the time, but you were never in any doubt about how much it took out of her.

I found this ferocity and determination admirable, as did the thousands whom Radcliffe inspired to run. They soon realised just how excruciatingly difficult it can be to run 10 miles, let alone 26.2. But, for others, this neurotic, driven athlete smashing records was a complete turn-off.

The string of disappointments Radcliffe experienced at Olympic Games will, sadly, be the flops that define her career in the minds of many. There are no Brownie points for trying or even for breaking world records. Her bid to ‘finish by finishing a race’ has been the subject of scorn and resentment. We want our athletes to go out in a blaze of glory.

Tears: Radcliffe was never able to produce the goods at the Olympics

It is the same attitude that has shaped the tributes to Michael Owen, a player who would apparently have been immortal if he had retired at the age of 17. Even Rebecca Adlington, who I believe outdid her stunning double gold by coming back to win two bronze medals at a home Games four years later, seems to have been dismissed as a has-been after quitting at 23.

Never mind the argument that true greatness only comes from sustained success; of achieving glory and then coming back and scaling that mountain again like Michael Phelps or Sir Steve Redgrave. No, we want gold or glorious goals and then a quick sidestep to allow someone else to have a go, please. I understand that. I don’t want to watch washed-up old athletes clinging on.

Best of British: Radcliffe remains the world record holder in the marathon

Yet the bitterness that has been spewed at Radcliffe this week irks, because one of Britain’s greatest female athletes does not deserve to be dismissed as a ‘drama queen’.

Radcliffe broke the mould during the stellar years of her career. Her tenacity is admirable but her reputation is tarnished by every failed comeback. Let us remember the broken records, not the broken body.

What they said

August’s World Championships  will ‘definitely be on  the radar’ if Oscar Pistorius  ‘is up for it and qualifies’.

— Peet van Zyl, Oscar Pistorius’s agent

... and this is what I've been doing this week

The track is not a circus ring for people to go and stare at a man accused of murdering his girlfriend. It is unthinkable Pistorius should compete again before his trial — although athletics meeting organisers will no doubt want to cash in.

Endured England’s draw in Montenegro. Wondered why I bothered. But there was, at least, some solace in the fact Roy Keane looked as disgusted as I felt. (More Keane and less diplomacy please, ITV.)

Poor performance: England stuttered to a draw in Montenegro last week

Watched the Boat Race among a different crowd to the football fans I sat with at the FA Trophy final last Sunday and it was far less enjoyable. Sport is so much more absorbing when you really care about the result.

At the launch of British Cycling’s bid to get one million more women on bikes by 2020, Sky said they don’t have a female road racing team as it would be ‘disingenuous to create a team just for a message of clarity’.

That was one reason. It may not get the same exposure, was the real one.

Performance of the week

Is there anything Clare Balding can’t do? She was broadcasting in a life jacket yesterday before the Boat Race and still managed to live up to her tag as the nation’s darling. The crowds on the banks of the Thames seemed far more interested in catching a glimpse of Balding than watching the race.

  More... Radcliffe: Foot injury that ruled me out of London 2012 may stop me from competing ever again Sickening! Dobriskey reveals agony at losing to a drug cheat in 2012... and seeing her 'prance around' Olympic Stadium




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