Marathon Morris wins Olympic slot

Morris was a former Welsh schoolgirl runner before she gave up the sport for 10 years. Before yesterday she had run in only one other marathon five years ago, when she completed the London event in 3:39:00 to raise £3,000 for a blind charity.

She entered yesterday's race considering herself a recreational runner. But she had undertaken painstaking preparations for the race although her average of 70 miles a week is well below the mileage that Radcliffe pounds on a regular basis. Morris said: "The result is as big a shock to me as it is to you. I didn't know I was the first British woman until I'd crossed the line and a friend told me.

"I've been to Athens once before as my friend lives there and I was at her wedding four years ago but it will be nice to go back."

Meanwhile, Radcliffe was today warned to give the Olympic marathon a miss or risk doing long-term damage to her health.

Volker Wagner, the coach of one of Radcliffe's biggest track rivals, says Britain's gold medal favourite should switch her attention to the 10,000 metres in Athens

because of the dangers posed by a combination of a brutal course, soaring temperatures and pollution in the gruelling longer event.

Radcliffe announced on Friday that, following hernia surgery, she is back in training and targeting the marathon in Athens. Nothing that happened in yesterday's event, not even the world's fastest time this year of 2:22:35 posted in wet and windy conditions by Okayo, will stop the Briton lining up as overwhelming favourite.

Yet leading coach and agent Wagner, echoing the growing fears of experts who are alarmed that the women's marathon in Athens is planned to start in early evening approaching 100 degrees, told Standard Sport: "If I was to advise Paula it would be to stay away from the marathon in Athens - it's too dangerous.

"Paula always prepares thoroughly and has different tactics but if I was her, I would go for the 10,000m. Health-wise, you could not possibly recommend this marathon."