Berlin Marathon - Magnificent Paula Radcliffe clinches her place in the London Olympics
Last updated 9/26/2011 9:18:38 AM
Berlin Marathon - Magnificent Paula Radcliffe clinches her place in the London Olympics
Paula Radcliffe's comeback after babies, illness and injury began on the streets of Berlin when she smashed through the qualifying mark for London 2012.
Although she had to settle for third place behind winner Florence Kiplagat her time of two hours 23 minutes and 46 seconds was her best for four years and inside the UK qualifying standard by more than seven minutes.
But, like all true winners, she was far from happy and the 37 year old said: "I should be happy but I'm also a little annoyed. But that gives me things to work on."
It was, however, the magnificent Kenyans who dominated Berlin as Patrick Makau retained his Berlin title with the fastest ever time recorded in the world of 2:03.38
Scott Overall reached the British men's qualifying time as he finished an impressive fifth on his marathon debut but Haile Gebrselassie failed to finish the race.
The 28 year old Overall ran an outstanding 2:10.55 - more than a minute inside the qualifying mark of two hours 12 minutes demanded by UKA.
But it was British women's world record holder Radcliffe who captured the parochial British headlines as she ran her first marathon since the birth of her second child in 2009.
"I'm not happy because I would have liked to run faster, and win the race, but my main goal was to enjoy it and me kind-of did. I got a bit carried away," she said.
"I was thinking 'be sensible, get this tucked away, get the qualifying time and put the ego to one side'. I know I can get in a better shape for next year.
"Anybody who is healthy on the start line is in with a shot of winning the Olympics. My hip needs to rest a bit. I should be happy, but I'm not."
Radcliffe admitted to feeling "a bit of fear" ahead of the race given the years which had passed since she last competed.
With her finishing position less important than the time she achieved, Radcliffe let Kenya's Kiplagat run away at the 15km mark and was 19 seconds back by the halfway stage and a ninth marathon victory was no longer on the cards.
Germany's Irina Mikitenko passed Radcliffe after 30km on her way to a second-place finish, but Radcliffe has to be pleased to meet the London 2012 criteria.
Kiplagat won in a time of 2:19.44, outside the course record but the second-fastest time in the world this year.
Overall enjoyed his own moment of glory and said: "I couldn't believe it. When I got to 40k I thought I had got the time wrong, so I was cruising on the home straight, and when I saw the clock said 2:10 I was very surprised.
"I was on my own from halfway and think that if I had a pacemaker possibly may have gone quicker. All in all, not a bad debut."
Britain's Ben Whitby finished 11th in the race with Andi Jones 21st.
But it was Patrick Makau who caught the eye to establish himself as one of the favourites for the London Olympics.
He relived Gebrselassie of the record as the superb Ethiopian failed to finish, having experienced stomach problems around the 27km mark.
"In the morning my body was not good but, after I started the race, it started reacting very well. I started thinking about the record," said Makau.
Gebrselassie, the 38-year-old double Olympic champion at 10,000m, had also been looking to post a fast time and ease the pressure on him to qualify for the Games ahead of strong Ethiopian rivals.
But he found himself forced to step off the road midway through the race as Makau, sensing the Ethiopian great was struggling, upped the pace.
Gebrselassie set the previous best time over the same flat course with a time of 2:03.59 in the third of his four consecutive Berlin victories between 2006 and 2009.
Gebrselassie is now expected to head to Dubai in a last ditch bid to ensure he reaches the London Olympics.
We need both him and the brave Paula Radcliffe.