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Paula Radcliffe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Country |  Great Britain |
|
| Club | Bedford & County Athletic Club | |
| Date of birth | December 17, 1973 | |
| Place of birth | Davenham, Cheshire |
|
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) | |
| Weight | 54 kg (119 lb) | |
| Personal Best | 5000 m: 14:29.11 10,000 m: 30:01.09 Marathon: 2:15:25 |
|
| Titles | ||
| Olympic Finals: | 1996, 5000 m, 5th 2000, 10,000 m, 4th 2004, Marathon, DNF 2004, 10,000 m, DNF |
|
| World Finals: | 1993, 3000 m, 7th 1997, 5000 m, 4th 1999, 10,000 m, Silver 2001, 10,000 m, 4th 2005, 10,000 m, 9th 2005, Marathon, Gold |
|
| Highest World Ranking: | 1 | |
|
Infobox last updated on: 25-08-2007. |
||
| Medal record | |||
 Paula Radcliffe |
|||
| Women's athletics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| World Championships | |||
| Gold | 2005 Helsinki | Marathon | |
| Silver | 1999 Seville | 10000 m | |
| Commonwealth Games | |||
| Gold | 2002 Manchester | 5,000 m | |
| European Championships | |||
| Gold | 2002 Munich | 10000 m | |
| EuropeanCup | |||
| Gold | 1998 St. Petersburg | 5000 m | |
| Gold | 1999 Paris | 5000 m | |
| Gold | 2004 Bydgoszcz | 5000 m | |
| Silver | 1998 St. Petersburg | 1500 m | |
| Silver | 2001 Bremen | 5000 m | |
| Bronze | 1997 Munich | 3000 m | |
| World Half Marathon Championships | |||
| Gold | 2000 Veracruz | HM | |
| Gold | 2001 Bristol | HM | |
| Gold | 2003 Vilamoura | HM | |
| World Cross Country Championships | |||
| Gold | 1992 Boston | Junior | |
| Gold | 2001 Ostend | Snr, long | |
| Gold | 2002 Dublin | Snr, long | |
| Silver | 1997 Turin | Snr, long | |
| Silver | 1998 Marrakech | Snr, long | |
| Silver | 2001 Ostend | Snr, short | |
| Bronze | 1999 Belfast | Snr, long | |
Paula Jane Radcliffe, MBE was born on 17 December 1973 in Davenham, England. She is a world class British long-distance runner and currently holds a total of 10 world records.[1]
Radcliffe's distinctive "nodding" action while running has made her instantly recognisable to British viewers. She is not known for her sprint finish and relies on setting a punishing pace from the start in order to pull away from her opponents and open up an unassailable gap.
In 2002 Radcliffe was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year and in June was awarded an MBE.
Radcliffe now resides in Monaco and is married to her trainer, Gary Lough, a former international 1500 m runner. They have a daughter named Isla born January, 2007.
Contents |
Radcliffe was born on 17 December 1973 in Davenham near Northwich, Cheshire. Her family then moved to nearby Barnton where she attended Little Leigh Primary School.[2] Despite suffering from asthma and anaemia she took up running at the age of seven, influenced by her father who was a keen amateur marathon runner and joined Frodsham Athletic Club. Her family later moved to Kingsley. At the age of 12 the family moved to Oakley, Bedfordshire where she became a member of Bedford Athletic Club. Her father became club vice-chairman and her mother, a fun-runner, managed the women's cross-country team.[3]
She attended Sharnbrook Upper School and Community College and studied French, German and economics at Loughborough University, gaining a first-class honours degree in modern European studies.[4]
Her early running success was in cross country events, including the 1992 World Junior title, beating Wang Junxia. She missed the 1994 season through injury, but came back with a succession of good results at 5000 m, including fifth place in both the 1995 World Championships and 1996 Olympic Games. Although a silver-medalist in the 1999 World Championships in Athletics Radcliffe seemed destined never to win a major 5,000 m or 10,000 m title, finishing out of the medals at the 2000 Olympic Games and 2001 World Championships.
On 24 March, Radcliffe won the Ostend, Belgium held World Cross Country Championships 2001 title. Radcliffe, who finished in a time of 27mins 49secs, said: "It still hasn't really sunk in." Gete Wami, who came in second place said: "No one likes losing. "But if anyone deserves to win this title it is Paula. She was great."[5]
Held in March in Dublin, Radcliffe defended her title in the Women's Long Race when she won the 2002 IAAF World Cross Country Championships title for a second year. She won in 26min 46sec.[6]
In 2002, Radcliffe made the move up to the marathon, a decision that immediately paid off with victory at her debut in that year's London Marathon on 14 April 2002 in a world's best time for a women's only race (2:18:55)[7] Her time was the second quickest in women's marathon history behind the world record of 2:18:47 set by Catherine Ndereba, of Kenya, in Chicago.[8]
Later that year, Radcliffe set a world record time of 2:17:18 in the Chicago Marathon on 13 October 2002,[9] breaking the previous record by a minute and a half.
She was awarded an MBE in June 2002, making it her sixth medal of the season. She said: "It means a great deal to me, it's a great honour and it really tops off an amazing year. "To come here and receive this and to meet The Queen at the end of it just finishes it off perfectly."[10]
Later the same year she also became the BBC Sports Personality of the Year, making her the first woman in over a decade to be honoured with the accolade. Paula thanked her husband Gary Lough, her coach Alex Stanton and her physio, Gerard Hartmann.[11]
Radcliffe is the current world record holder for the women's marathon, which she set during the 2003 London Marathon in April, with a time of 2:15:25. This mark is currently one of the highest scoring performances ever.[12] In terms of IAAF world ranking points, at 1307, it is higher in value than Florence Griffith-Joyner's 100 and 200 m records, Marita Koch's 400 m, and Michael Johnsons' 400 m record. This score would equate to between 9.75 s and 9.76 s in the men's 100 m sprint. [13] The current world record is 9.74 seconds.
Also Radcliffe is the current world record holder for the Women's 10k in a time of 30 minutes and 21 seconds, which she set on February 23, 2003 in the World's Best 10K Race in San Juan, Puerto Rico.[14]
Paula Radcliffe won the Great North Run in a world-best time. She completed the 13.5 mile half marathon course from Newcastle to South Shields in 65 minutes and 40 seconds.[15]
She won the 2004 New York City Marathon her time was 2:23:10[16], even though not fully prepared (the only occasion that a competitor came within a minute of her). Of the seven marathons Radcliffe has run so far, she has won six and set a record in five, building up a claim to be the best female distance runner of all time in her age group. She has run four out of the five fastest times in history in the women's marathon. After a close race with Kenya's Susan Chepkemei, her greater strength allowed her to pull away to victory at the end.[17]
Radcliffe did not compete in the London Marathon in 2004, but was the favourite to win a gold medal in the marathon at the Olympic Games in Athens. However, she suffered an injury to her leg just two weeks prior to the event and had to use a high dose of anti-inflammatory drugs. This allegedly had an adverse effect on her stomach hindering food absorption. The resultant lack of energy and carbohydrates in her system before the start of the race might have led to her distressing withdrawal after 36km. Five days later she started in the 10,000 metres but, still suffering from the effects of the marathon, retired with eight laps remaining.[18] Radcliffe said "You go through bad stages in a marathon, but never as bad as that,"[ ]"I've never before not been able to finish and I'm desperately trying to find a reason for what happened."[ ]"I just feel numb - this is something I worked so hard for."[19]
Regarded as Great Britain's best gold medal hope in athletics, her withdrawal made headlines in the UK, with editorial stances ranging from support to negativity, with some newspapers deriding Radcliffe for 'quitting', rather than going on to finish the race[3]. Television pictures showed Radcliffe in a clearly distressed state after dropping out of the marathon.[20]
At the 2005 London Marathon she won with a time of 2:17:42, a world's best time for a women's only race by over a minute. For some the race was remembered for a moment towards the end when Radcliffe, stopped for a toilet break on the side of the road in view of the crowd and television cameras.[21]. After the race she apologised to viewers and explained what happened, "I was losing time because I was having stomach cramps and I thought 'I just need to go and I'll be fine'. I didn’t really want to resort to that in front of hundreds of thousands of people.[22]
On 14 August 2005 at the World Championships held in Helsinki, Finland she won Britain's only gold medal when she took the marathon title, dominating the race and setting a championship record time of 2:20:57. Catherine Ndereba of Kenya finished in second place, more than a minute behind. Radcliffe said: "It pretty much went according to plan. If somebody had been with me at the end I think I could have pushed it up a bit more." She and three other British runners were also awarded third place Bronze in the team competition.[23]
New Years Eve 2005 Radcliffe won the San Silvestre Vallecana, a 10 km race in the borough of Vallecas, Madrid, Spain. She said: "I'm okay and it is a great way to end 2005 - with a win."[24]
Radcliffe took a break through the 2006 season due to injuries and in July announced that she was expecting her first child. Her comeback was further delayed in 2007 due to a stress fracture in her lower back.[25]
Radcliffe chose not to defend her world marathon crown in 2007, in order to undertake further rehabilitation, but insisted she wanted to compete in the next two Olympic Games.
She made her return to competitive running on 30 September 2007, Radcliffe took part in the BUPA Great North Run in the UK on Tyneside. This was her first race in almost two years. She succeeded in gaining second place beaten by the US runner Kara Goucher over the half-marathon distance.[26]
She made her marathon return at the New York City Marathon on the 4 November 2007 which she won with an official time of 2:23:09.[27] She has stated that a start at the World Cross Country Championships at Edinburgh is a possibility.[28]
- Awarded the BBC London Sports Awards 2003 for 'Sporting Moment of the Year'.[29]
- Radcliffe has set numerous records, official and unofficial, on the track and the roads. As of October 2007, she holds the official world record for 10 km on roads. She has twice won the World Half-Marathon championships, twice the World Cross-Country championships (in 2001 and 2002), and in December 2003 became European Cross-Country champion for the second time, the only woman to have achieved this feat in the event's ten-year history.
- Forced out of the Paris World Athletics Championships because of injury in 2003, her greatest moment on the track has been European gold at 10,000 m in 2002. Hindered by back-markers, and in the rain, she nevertheless ran a time of 30:01.09 (a European record by 12 seconds, and second only to Wang Junxia's controversial world record time of 29:31.78 set in Beijing [4] ). The same year she won Commonwealth Games gold in the 5000 m, missing the world record by three seconds.
- Paula was nominated for the sports personality award in 2007.
Radcliffe's athletic ability and commitment to training are accompanied by a strong belief in playing by the rules. She has frequently made high-profile condemnations of performance-enhancing drugs in athletics, most famously at the World Athletics Championships in Edmonton in 2001 when Radcliffe and team-mate Hayley Tullett held up a sign protesting against the reinstatement of Russian athlete Olga Yegorova, after Yegorova had tested positive for the banned substance EPO. Radcliffe also wears a red ribbon when competing to show her support for blood testing as a method of catching drugs cheats.
Radcliffe is married to her coach, British former international 1500m runner Gary Lough.[30] At age 33, she gave birth to her first child. Daughter, Isla, born on January 17, 2007 at 9:43 a.m. at the Princess Grace Hospital, in Monaco after a gruelling 27-hour labour.[31]
- 400 m - 58.9
- 800 m - 2:05.22
- 1000 m - 2:47.17
- 1500 m - 4:05.37
- 1 mi - 4:24.94
- 2000 m - 5:37.01+
- 3000 m - 8:22.20 (UK record)
- 2 mi - 9:17.4
- 4000 m - 11:35.21+
- 5000 m - 14:29.11 (UK record)
- 10,000 m - 30:01.09 (European record)
- 5 km road - 14:48+
- 4 mi road - 19:51+
- 5 mi road - 24:47+
- 8 km road - 24:05+ (World Best)
- 10 km road - 30:21 (WR)
- 15 km road - 46:41+ (World Best)
- 10 mi road - 50:01+ (World Best)
- 20 km road - 1:02.21+
- Half Marathon - 1:05:40 (World Best)
- 25 km road - 1:20:36+ (World Best)
- 30 km road - 1:36:36+ (World Best)
- 20 mi road - 1:43:33+ (World Best)
- Marathon - 2:15:25 (WR)
- ^ Running machine BBC, accessed 07/11/07
- ^ [1] icCheshireOnline, accessed 21/11/07
- ^ Radcliffe ready to deliver her own historic message Guardian, accessed 08/11/07
- ^ Paula's winning streak takes time... BBC, accessed 08/11/07
- ^ Radcliffe takes World Cross-Country title BBC, 24 March, 2001
- ^ Radcliffe retains X-country title in Dublin UK Sport, Rob Burgess 25/03/2002
- ^ Debut win for Radcliffe BBC, accessed 06/11/07
- ^ Debut win for Radcliffe BBC, 14 April, 2002
- ^ Radcliffe sets marathon record BBC, accessed 06/11/07
- ^ Another medal for Radcliffe BBC, accessed 06/11/07
- ^ Paula Radcliffe is BBC Sports Personality of 2002 BBC, accessed 06/11/07
- ^ Radcliffe smashes record BBC, accessed 06/11/07
- ^ Hicham El Guerrouj and Paula Radcliffe are 2002 Athletes of the Year accessed 07/11/07
- ^ Paula Radcliffe breaks 10K world record BBC Newsround, 24 February 2003
- ^ Radcliffe wins Great North Run BBC, 21 September, 2003
- ^ Radcliffe enjoys winning comeback BBC, accessed 06/11/07
- ^ Radcliffe enjoys winning comeback BBC, accessed 08/11/07
- ^ Marathon Agony for Radcliffe BBC, accessed 08/11/07
- ^ Radcliffe baffled by failure BBC, accessed 08/11/07
- ^ Fans share Paula's pain BBC, accessed 08/11/07
- ^ Relief all round after Paula pauses on road to glory. The Scotsman (18 April 2005).
- ^ Radcliffe shrugs off toilet break BBC, accessed 07/11/07
- ^ Marathon Glory for Radcliffe Sporting Life, accessed 08/11/07
- ^ Radcliffe eases to Madrid victory BBC, accessed 07/11/07
- ^ Radcliffe may miss World Championships Times, accessed 08/11/07
- ^ Great North Run 2007 BBC Tyne, accessed 08/11/07
- ^ Radfcliffe wins New York City marathon The Times, accessed 06/11/07
- ^ [2]iaaf.org
- ^ In Pictures: BBC London Sports Awards 2003 BBC, accessed 08/11/07
- ^ Radcliffe to rule at Stormont BBC, accessed 06/11/07
- ^ EXCLUSIVE: Paula Radcliffe introduces baby Isla London Olympics 2012, accessed 06/11/07
- ^ Paula Radcliffe - Her Story So Far BBC, accessed 06/11/07
- Paula: My Story So Far (Paula Radcliffe with David Walsh) ISBN 0-7432-5242-X[32]
- IAAF profile for Paula Radcliffe
- Paula Radcliffe Official Website
- Paula Radcliffe training video 1
- Paula Radcliffe training video 2
- Paula Radcliffe 'bionic' kit, (August 14, 2005)
- Paula Radcliffe: One Track Mind, (April 16, 2005)
- Paula Radcliffe: Long Road Back, (October 31, 2004)
- Paula Radcliffe: Failing to finish at the 2004 Olympic Games, (August 22, 2004)
- Paula Radcliffe: Journey from Disappointing Fourth to Dominant First, (June, 2004)
- Paula Radcliffe: Escorting Paula, (April, 2003)
- Paula Radcliffe: A Guardian interview about drug use in sport, (August 20, 2001)
| World Champions in Women's Marathon |
|---|
| 1983: Grete Waitz | 1987: Rosa Mota | 1991: Wanda Panfil | 1993: Junko Asari | 1995: Manuela Machado | 1997: Hiromi Suzuki | 1999: Jong Song-Ok | 2001: Lidia Simon | 2003: Catherine Ndereba | 2005: Paula Radcliffe| 2007: Catherine Ndereba |
Categories: 1973 births | Living people | Athletes at the 1996 Summer Olympics | Athletes at the 2000 Summer Olympics | Athletes at the 2004 Summer Olympics | BBC Sports Personality of the Year winners | English athletes | Alumni of Loughborough University | Long-distance runners | Members of the Order of the British Empire | Olympic athletes of Great Britain | Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year award winner | World record holders | People from Bedfordshire