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Paula Radcliffe insists she still has her sights set on winning the Olympic marathon in London 2012.

Radcliffe, who turns 36 in December, will be hoping to use next weekend's New York marathon to get her career back on track after a problematic year.

The Briton was forced to pull out of the world championships in Berlin earlier this year through injury and missed the world half marathon with tonsillitis.

Despite her recent setbacks, Radcliffe, who finished 23rd in the marathon in Beijing last year after failing to finish in Athens 2004, believes she is close to being back to her best.

"My intention is totally to be there in 2012, to be on that team competing in an amazing opportunity at the Olympics," she said.

"That is definitely written in there and hopefully the family will be there supporting me and cheering me on."

Extremely grateful

Radcliffe will be 38 when the Olympics gets under way in 2012 and while she admits she will have to be "smart" looking after her fragile body, she insists her mind is still as youthful as ever.

"After this year and the races I've had to miss out on I'm just going to be extremely grateful to be there (in New York) and just really looking forward to running really well," she added.

"I was really frustrated that I came down with the tonsillitis and couldn't race in the world half marathon championships but I'm really happy with how the training has gone and I wouldn't be putting myself on the line if I didn't think that I could go (to New York) and win it.

"I really enjoy racing. It is something I love doing. Getting the chance to do that and to prolong my career for as long as possible is what I really want to do.

"The hard thing I'm finding now is that my body is nearly 36 but my mind still feels like it did when I was 18 and probably will still always feel like that so I just have to be more sensible about how I do the training and the recovery."