Radcliffe bids for more glory in cup clash

Paula Radcliffe will chase a third Spar European Cup 5,000metres title in Poland next week.

It will be Radcliffe's first track race since winning the European 10,000m gold medal in Munich 22 months ago and a warm-up for the Norwich Union British Grand Prix at Gateshead.

Radcliffe, who holds the world's fastest time for the women's marathon, will be chasing the Olympic 10,000m qualifying standard of 31min 45sec at the Tyneside event, although the marathon still remains her preferred distance for the Olympic Games in Athens.

In Poland, she will be a welcome inclusion and add strength to the GB side which last year finished third in the men's competition and fourth in the women's. Joining Radcliffe in Bydgoszcz will be several other genuine Olympic medal hopefuls, including last year's world 1500m bronze medallist Hayley Tullett and former world indoor triple jump champion Ashia Hansen.

There are several slots to be confirmed by next Tuesday, particularly the men's 100m, in which the position rests between Jason Gardner and Mark Lewis-Francis.

Meanwhile, medal hopeful Kelly Holmes today admitted her preparations for Athens are not going according to plan.

Holmes will step on to the track in the Czech Republic city of Ostrava tonight for her first race of the season without an illness or injury problem. But the middle-distance runner, who earlier in the year issued glowing reports of her winter preparations in South Africa, still has lingering doubts about her build-up to Athens.

She said: "My training hasn't gone as well as I expected it might. That's why tonight's race is really important."