Return of old foes may wreck Paula's dream

Ian Chadband|Adrian Warner|Evening Standard|In Athens

14 April 2012

It is not just the wretched memory of Sunday's marathon which may nag away at Paula Radcliffe's psyche tonight. There will also be the presence of some old foes who have made her life a misery in previous 10,000metres finals.

Among the 31 starters in the field, Radcliffe starts as overwhelmingly the fastest on 2004 form, some 25 seconds quicker than anyone else.

Yet when she glances across the start line at Derartu Tulu, the reigning champion, and her two brilliant Ethiopian team-mates, it may remind her of so many of her track near-misses in the past when she has been ambushed by the Africans.

In Sydney four years ago, Tulu led home compatriot Gete Wami and Portugal's Fernanda Ribeiro, also in tonight's field, swept past Radcliffe too for the bronze as the Englishwoman was left in the familiar situation of failing to break her pursuers and missing out on a medal.

Radcliffe, who clocked the world's fastest this year (30min 17.15sec) in Gateshead, is a vastly superior athlete these days but if, as seems likely, she is remotely weakened by Sunday's traumas, Tulu and two new accomplices, working as a team, will be ready to pounce again.

The great Tulu, at 32, may not be quite the athlete she was but 22-year-old Worknesh Kidane, the world silver medallist who has a lifetime best just six seconds slower than Radcliffe's 30min 01.09sec, and Ejagayou Dibaba, Tulu's cousin, look very menacing.

Yet dangers lurk everywhere, from the Chinese Yingjie Sun, who will challenge Radcliffe in the front-running stakes, to Lornah Kiplagat, the Kenyan now running for Holland.

We know Radcliffe is remarkable but to beat these luminaries after what she has been through would have to be considered one of the most astounding triumphs in the history of Olympic sport.

While Radcliffe offers Britain another chance of a medal at the track, it will do little to cover up the disappointing display from the British athletics team.

Steve Backley presents the country's last realistic hope of winning a medal and he will offer one final fling tomorrow to stop Britain's athletics men leaving Athens with the notorious tag as the worst in Olympic history.

While Kelly Holmes bids for a second gold in the women's 1,500m after her 800m triumph and heptathlete Kelly Sotherton will leave the Greek capital with a bronze medal in her bag, the men have suffered an unprecedented slump.

British men have never failed to win a medal in track and field since the modern Games began in 1896.

The class of 2004 have shown little to suggest they can match the feats of their ancestors.

The relays are always capable of pulling something out of the bag. But the sprinters are hardly ruling the waves and Britain also has a reputation for dropping the baton at key moments.

It's left to Backley, a bronze medallist in Barcelona in 1992 and silver medallist at the 1996 Atlanta and 2000 Sydney Games, to save the day.

Last night Backley only just qualified for the javelin final with the 12th best throw of 80.68 metres. and he will to have to produce something spectacular to become the only British athlete to win four medals at consecutive Games.

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Return of old foes may wreck Paula's dream

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