Paula Radcliffe says Britain's head coach Charles van Commenee tried to talk her out of competing this year in order to improve her chances for the 2012 Olympics. The two sat down in May to discuss the issue, with Radcliffe – who has not now competed for almost 10 months – determined to get back into racing."He was trying to persuade me to forget this year and come back to the World Championships in 2011," says Radcliffe. "But I said, well, I need to have a target to train for anyway, so it doesn't really matter to me if things click for now or for a full marathon, as long as I click somewhere."
The 35-year-old talked over her plans to race the half-marathon in New York tomorrow as a late fitness test for the World Championships marathon in Berlin seven days later, a move that Van Commenee described as "extreme".
"I'll be the first to admit that this is an unorthodox way to prepare for a World Championship," said the world record holder. "To prepare for any marathon by doing a half-marathon the week before isn't ideal. That's why it won't be like eyeballs-out trying to run the fastest time I've ever run on Sunday. [But] New York has always been a place where I've come to pick myself up and get myself back into it. It just feels right to me and it feels good to go out and race."
Radcliffe, who suffered bouts of bronchitis and sinusitis this year, insists that the difference between preparing for Berlin and preparing for the Olympics last summer where she finished 24th, is "night and day". "I have the knowledge that I've got 135, 150-odd miles a week behind me. I've got the background there. I was going into Beijing really just praying. It's nothing like that."
The surgery Radcliffe underwent in March, to remove a bunion from her right foot, has left her in positive mood. "In the long run it was absolutely the best thing to do to have the surgery. Probably I should have taken the big plunge and done it a little bit sooner because I'm not noticing the soreness and the pain in my back and other compensatory things that have been jumping in every time I manage to get to a good level of fitness and racing the last couple of years."
Radcliffe, who won marathon gold in the World Championships in 2005, will decide soon after the race whether she is ready for Berlin. "I'm only interested in going if I can go there and say that I'm there and in shape to win it and challenge for the title," she added.
Britain's No1 sprinter, Simeon Williamson, is preparing for the biggest test of his career, as he attempts to make the 100m final, starting in the heats today. The 23-year-old knows he may need to run a personal best sub-10 second race to do so, but is confident he can do it. "I went to the European Indoors to get at least a silver medal and I didn't come back with anything. That was a big, big, big disappointment. I don't want to feel like that again," said Williamson, who has met Usain Bolt twice recently, and knows what a distraction it can be.
"At Paris it was my first time running against Bolt. I tried to focus but I could hear the crowd and I was thinking 'what's going on?'. It messed with my whole preparation for that race. Getting a good start will be vital to have a fighting chance because if you're behind him at the start you might as well say the race is finished."
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