Paula's second chance

Paula Radcliffe is tipped to make a sensational Olympic comeback on Friday after the calamitous end to her marathon dream in Athens.

As she recovered from the exhaustion which forced her to pull out of yesterday's race lost and in tears with four miles to go, sources close to her camp suggested she may not have ruled out the amazing prospect of running the 10,000 metres on Friday.

Radcliffe is said to still be " distraught" after the sorry end to the race in which she started as overwhelming favourite but ended up appearing to be beaten by the unforgiving Athens heat.

She underwent tests to check her medical wellbeing but was said to be healthy enough to eat with husband Gary Lough and o t her members of he r entourage in the Olympic Village late last night.

All now depends on her physical and mental readiness but Radcliffe was originally entered by the British team for the 10,000m as a fallback if anything went wrong in the marathon and she is such a determined figure that no one in either UK Athletics or the British Olympic Association was ruling out a remarkable comeback.

"She's distraught at the moment but if she is fit enough to train in the next two or three days, I don't think it's beyond the realms of possibility that she could run the 10,000, a straight final, in five days' time," one official close to Radcliffe said. "She doesn't appear to be injured and Paula has shown before what she is made of. She is remarkably resilient so you should rule out nothing at this stage."