Filed under: Other Sports, Athletics
It says something that Paul Radcliffe was annoyed and frustrated with her third-place finish at the Berlin Marathon - her first attempt at the distance in almost two years - even though she finished well within the qualifying time for London 2012.Radcliffe finished behind winner Florence Kiplagat of Kenya and German Irina Mikitenko in a time of two hours, 23 minutes and 46 seconds, which is almost eight minutes inside the standard set by UK Athletics.
It was her first race since the birth of her second child and one that followed a worrying spell of injuries for the world record holder.
Berlin represented Radcliffe's only chance of qualifying for London 2012 and she admitted she had to "put the ego to once side" to concentrate on racing within the 2:31 time limit rather than trying to go all-out to win the event.
And she admitted the pressure was on - especially after a summer where a back problem meant her only race of the summer was a 10km event, where she finished a disappointing third.
On the Berlin race, Radcliffe said: "I should be happy and I'm a little annoyed but that gives me things to work on, because that takes me into winter training a bit frustrated. I'm not happy because I would have liked to run faster, and win the race, but my main goal was to enjoy it and I kind of did. I got a bit carried away.
"I was thinking 'be sensible, you have get this tucked away, get the qualifying time and let the ego take a back seat a bit'. I know I can get in a better shape for next year. Honestly after the training I have had this summer, which has been up and down, I should be happy with that, but I am not because I wanted to win the race."
Radcliffe will now head back to the hospital on Friday for a minor operation on a bone spur in her ankle, which will not impact much on her training as she normally rests for three weeks after a marathon.
After the period of rest and recovery, she will head to Kenya for two bouts of winter training, with her eye on winning the one accolade which has so far eluded her: Olympic gold.
And on her chances in London, she is coy, adding: " I know I can get in a lot better shape for next year. I think anybody who is healthy on the start line has a shot. That is my biggest goal, to get healthy."
In the men's race, Kenyan Patrick Makau broke Haile Gebrselaisse's world record by 21 seconds, finishing in 2:03:38 as the Ethiopian failed to finish.
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Source: http://www.fanhouse.co.uk/2011/09/26/annoyed-paula-radcliffe-qualifies-for-london-2012-in-comeback/
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