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Radcliffe: Best yet to come
Paula Radcliffe will be Britain's best hope for an athletics gold at the London 2012 Olympics says running legend Brendan Foster.
Radcliffe has twice seen her Olympic marathon dream end in tatters - in 2004, she broke down due to problems related to a niggling injury, and back in August she hobbled over the line in agony in Beijing having only just come back from a stress fracture to her femur.
But Foster, a distance running icon who has known Radcliffe since she was an up-and-coming teenager, believes those setbacks could prove to be worth their weight in gold - ones that could lead to that elusive Olympic title.
He said: "She's barely raced in the last three years and I think this could be a blessing in disguise.
"I believe she could be Britain's best hope for a (athletics) gold medal in 2012.
"Remember Constantina Tomescu, the winner in Beijing was 38, and that's exactly how old Paula will be in London."
Warm-up
Radcliffe's sensational performance at the Great South Run last weekend, where she took 30 seconds off the previous British record for the 10-mile distance, has fuelled Foster's belief that her time is still to come.
That race was her first since Beijing, planned as a warm up to this Sunday's New York marathon where she hopes to defend the title she won last year just seven months after giving birth to daughter Isla.
But Foster sees it as the first step in a long build-up to London in four years time.
He added: "She's obviously much more respectful of her body now and being really injury free for the first time in three years, I think we're going to see a new Paula back to her very best form.
"The way she ran in Portsmouth she would have beaten any runner in the world and thank God, despite her setbacks, she continues to remain so confident and enthusiastic.
"I think Portsmouth will not just be a springboard to winning again at the weekend in New York but the stepping stone to her finally becoming an Olympic champion."
