Paula Radcliffe believes proposal to erase world records 'damages reputation and dignity'
By Andy Charles
Last Updated: 02/05/17 5:34pm
Paula Radcliffe has criticised proposed changes that could see her world record in the marathon wiped out, saying they would hurt her reputation.
European Athletics announced on Monday that world records set before 2005, since when the IAAF has stored blood and urine samples, would be erased under the proposal recommended by one of the body's project teams.
The proposals will now be forwarded to the sport's world governing body for further consideration.
Radcliffe set her marathon record in London in 2003 and she would be one of the British athletes to lose a world mark along with Jonathan Edwards, who set his triple jump mark of 18.29m in 1995.
"Although we are moving forward, I don't believe we are yet at the point where we have a testing procedure capable of catching every cheat out there, so why reset at this point?" Radcliffe said.
"Do we really believe a record set in 2015 is totally clean and one in 1995 not? "I am hurt and do feel this damages my reputation and dignity.
"It is a heavy-handed way to wipe out some really suspicious records in a cowardly way by simply sweeping all aside instead of having the guts to take the legal plunge and wipe any record that would be found in a court of law to have been illegally assisted."
But European Athletics Taskforce member Pierce O'Callaghan told Sky Sports News HQ that the changes were being recommended as the sport's credibility with the public needs to be rebuilt.
"We're not stripping records away from any anybody, we are changing the record ratification criteria to bring it into the 21st century," he said.
"Some of the records are 30 and 40 years old. Certainly, the Paula Radcliffe and Jonathan Edwards records were not ones we were particularly interested in examining. But we have to have one size fits all. It's bringing credibility to the European records."
The proposal was described as "radical" by European Athletics president Svein Arne Hansen and received backing from IAAF president Lord Coe.
"I like this because it underlines that we [the governing bodies] have put into place doping control systems and technology that are more robust and safer than 15 or even 10 years ago," Coe said. "Of course, for this to be adopted for world records by the IAAF it needs global approval from all area associations.
"There will be athletes, current record holders, who will feel that the history we are recalibrating will take something away from them, but I think this is a step in the right direction and if organised and structured properly we have a good chance of winning back credibility in this area."
