PAULA RADCLIFFE returned to a track for the first time in almost two years with stunning effect here yesterday when she not only won the European Cup women’s 5,000 metres but broke her own British and Commonwealth record. It was a mark that had stood for 23 months, since she established it in winning the 2002 Commonwealth Games gold medal in Manchester.
In her first track race since adding the European 10,000 title to her Commonwealth victory in August 2002, Radcliffe led from the opening strides with the obvious intention of attacking the world record. A combination of a windy day and her pace misjudgment was probably the difference between the 14min 29.11sec she recorded and her erasing the world record of 14:24.68.
The world record was only nine days old, Elvan Abeylegesse, an Ethiopian-born Turk, having broken the seven-year-old mark of 14:28.09 set by Jiang Bo, from China. Radcliffe is now back on target to win the Olympic marathon in Athens after becoming the third-fastest woman 5,000 metres runner in history. “It was important to prove everything is fine,” she said.
Radcliffe had raced only once all year and that ended in defeat over 10 kilometres on the roads of Puerto Rico in February. A hamstring injury forced her out of the World Cross Country Championships in March. While treating that, her medical team discovered a groin hernia, which required surgery. She resumed training two months ago.
Since breaking the marathon world record twice, Radcliffe has withdrawn from successive World Championships, on the track last summer and over the cross country last winter. Questions were being asked about whether she was beginning to lose her powers. Now she has reaffirmed her position as Britain’s only gold-medal favourite for Athens.
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Radcliffe was on world-record schedule for three kilometres but lost time in the fourth. “I went off too fast over the first couple of laps,” she said. “The main thing is to keep an eye on the big picture, which is the Olympics. Training has been for the marathon but it is not until you race that you see how things are.”
Radcliffe’s next race will be in the 10,000 metres at the British Grand Prix in Gateshead on Sunday when she is seeking an Olympic qualifying time. The marathon is her priority, but the track gives her an alternative just in case.