One of Great Britain's greatest Olympic hopes will not be able to participate in the first Summer Olympics on the British Isles in more than a half-century. An injury will reportedly force Paula Radcliffe to watch the women's marathon instead of competing for a medal.
The Daily Mail was first to report that Radcliffe would be forced to miss the marathon, but Jason Henderson of Athletics Weekly is a member of the chorus reporting that Radcliffe is out. It was the Daily Mail report that Radcliffe, who has been suffering with a foot injury, took a shot at on Twitter early Sunday morning:
But that "not looking good" was probably telling for the 38-year-old Radcliffe, who is the women's record holder in the marathon. The Daily Telegraph, which confirmed Radcliffe is out of the marathon, also got her lamentation.
Radcliffe has been star-crossed when it has come to running the marathon in the Olympics. Stomach problems helped force her to abandon the marathon in the 2004 Olympics, and a foot injury before the 2008 Olympics affected her conditioning and led to a 22nd-place finish in Beijing.
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