Radcliffe's perfect Finnish

Published on Monday 15 August 2005 01:47

PAULA Radcliffe won gold for Britain yesterday on the final day of the World Athletics Championship in Helsinki with a comprehensive marathon victory against elite opposition.

Her triumph came after a poor showing in the earlier 10,000 metres, where she trailed in ninth.

And it erased the memory of her collapse in the 2004 Athens Olympics, when she crumpled in tears at the roadside during the marathon she was hotly tipped to win - then crashed out of the 10,000 metres after only two-thirds of the race.

The win also restored a modicum of pride to a British team which has under-achieved in the World Championships - especially with a view to the 2012 London Olympics.

Radcliffe knew there would be no repeat of her Athens nightmare in Finland.

"The problem last year was that I knew things were falling apart in the last two weeks before the marathon," she said.

"This year I knew everything had gone well and it was just a case of getting out there and executing it. I felt strong and normal this time. I knew it wasn't going to be like Athens."

Radcliffe added that she had planned to lead from the front - and her strategy succeeded.

She said: "It worked well. I knew that if I went out hard everyone would have to work really hard to stay with that."

While other family members cheered, she was hugged by husband Gary Lough after crossing the line.

She said: "Gary is just so happy. Everybody is relieved - it's a victory for all of us. It was really emotional on the lap of honour. Halfway round it just suddenly hit me."

Though her winning time was over five minutes slower than her 2003 marathon world record set in London, the win removes lingering doubts about her staying power and ability to cope with stress.

The 31-year-old finished the Helsinki marathon in a championship record of 2hrs 20m 57secs - 1m 44secs ahead of Kenyan 2003 world champion Catherine Ndereba, who never seriously threatened Radcliffe's hold on the race. And she took time out from her celebrations to clap the Kenyan home.

In the race, Radcliffe kept her nerve to fight off a midway challenge from Romania's Constantina Tomescu, who took the bronze after burning out in the face of Radcliffe's pace.

Radcliffe said: "This was for me. It was important for me to win this title because I knew I was capable of doing it and my team knew that too. I knew I was in good shape."

But she had already gone some way to answering her critics after the Athens disaster.

She bounced back in November that year to clinch victory in the closest-ever finish in the New York women's marathon, taking the title by four seconds.

And she followed that in April 2005 with her third London Marathon title.