Most of the Olympic memories that I’ve written about in this series have been of people winning medals, mostly gold. For my final memory, I am going to write about someone who has never won an Olympic medal throughout her otherwise illustrious sporting career: Paula Radcliffe.
In 2000, my dad and I had followed the final of the women’s 10,000m on the radio as we travelled from our home in Kilbirnie to Largs for a school band practice. Paula had set a fierce pace in the hope of tiring the rest of the field. One by one, her opponents dropped away from the leading group as they struggled to keep up. All except three, who sprinted past her in the closing stages to leave Paula empty-handed and broken-hearted.
Following this disappointment, she began to focus on road running, winning a number of high-profile events including the Chicago and London Marathons and setting a number of world records. Come the Athens Olympics in 2004, the British media had practically hung the gold medal round her neck and were viewing the marathon almost as a victory parade for “our Paula”. Struggling against injury, illness and the weather conditions, she pulled out of the race with a few miles remaining. The image of Paula sitting on a kerb by the side of the road weeping became one of the defining images of the games.
Five days later, my dad and I were making another, longer car journey. We were on our way to Braemar for a two-day hike to Aviemore and back. As we listened to the radio, there was a lot of debate about Paula, who had by now made a late entry into the 10,000m. Had she put her health at risk by starting the marathon? Had she shown a lack of pride and determination by dropping out? Was she foolishly risking her reputation by running the 10,000m? Nobody knew the answers, but it didn’t stop them from phoning in to add their tuppence-worth.
After checking into our hotel, we got a pint from the bar (well – one each obviously) and headed to our room to watch the race. We knew that realistically it was asking a lot for Paula to finish the race, never mind coming close to a medal, but the idea that she could make a miraculous come-back was irresistible. She was the European and Commonwealth champion at this distance, after all. Surely she had some kind of chance?
Initially, things looked promising. She stayed in touch with leaders; her head was rocking from side to side, but with Paula – that’s a good sign. Then, with eight laps left, the inevitable happened: she stepped off the track and her Olympic dream was finally extinguished.
For another four years, anyway. This year in Beijing, Paula Radcliffe is again entered in the marathon in what is probably her last chance to win gold. Again though, her preparations have not been ideal. In April, she had to withdraw from the London Marathon because of injury. Recovery was not as rapid as expected, and only when the British team set off for China last month was it confirmed that she intended to compete.
Can she finally win Olympic gold on 17th August? Let’s hope so.
