# Paula Radcliffe is...



## jdn (Aug 26, 2002)

*.*​
A superb athlete who tried her best but was not good enough on the day4865.75%A whinging cry baby who should have struggled on to the finish and not packed it in when it was clear she was not in the medals1520.55%Buggered by the Greek organisers setting a nightmare course in extreme weather - she would have won if it had been colder1013.70%


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## jdn (Aug 26, 2002)

Right, let's sort this out with a good old poll.


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## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

jdn said:


> Right, let's sort this out with a good old poll.


Lech Walesa do you?


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## jdn (Aug 26, 2002)

jampott said:


> jdn said:
> 
> 
> > Right, let's sort this out with a good old poll.
> ...


Nope, good old poles like this good lady are more up my street:


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## phil (May 7, 2002)

I'd have voted for the third one, but it's not the organisers of these sorts of events who decide these things. It's the advertisers, and the governing body. Which is why we were almost subjected to 4 quarters during the 1994 world cup. 
Advertisers want maximum coverage for their sponsorship, so dictate when it goes on the telly. Sad but true.


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## Matthew (Oct 6, 2003)

phil said:


> I'd have voted for the third one, but it's not the organisers of these sorts of events who decide these things. It's the advertisers, and the governing body. Which is why we were almost subjected to 4 quarters during the 1994 world cup.
> Advertisers want maximum coverage for their sponsorship, so dictate when it goes on the telly. Sad but true.


Yeah - But others completed the course and it's got to be a challenge. I went for option 1.


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## Jae (May 6, 2002)

why is it nearly every marathon in the world is run in the morning, and athens wasnt??? I blame pressure from sponsors and media moguls. Rumour has is that it was "those folks" in the USA that screwed it for not only Paula, but many other runners, on what is the most gruelling, and first Marathon course in the world.

Shame on them....

Well done Paula, you made us proud.

Jae


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## TTotal (Aug 12, 2002)

> Well done Paula, you made us proud.


Agreed Jae, nicely put.


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## jam (May 8, 2002)

She should be getting the same amount of shit as Beckham when he missed 'the penalty'

Not good enough I'm afraid and I'm sure there is someone in Britain who could have had a better crack at it than she did and not given up. Fair enough if she had finished it but she bottled out


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## ronin (Sep 6, 2003)

Babbling cry baby.


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## chip (Dec 24, 2002)

ronin said:


> Babbling cry baby.


Ditto

she simpy was not good enough, and gave up when she realised she wasn't in medal contention IMHO. Not what you expect from a professional athlete. Top respect to the other runners who plugged along and completed the race.


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## Matthew (Oct 6, 2003)

jam said:


> She should be getting the same amount of shit as Beckham when he missed 'the penalty'
> 
> Not good enough I'm afraid and I'm sure there is someone in Britain who could have had a better crack at it than she did and not given up. Fair enough if she had finished it but she bottled out


That's patently ridiculous - If there was anyone who could have done so they'd have been there. You honestly reckon somehow an athlete who could have completed that race would have somehow "slipped through the net" and not been spotted?


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## Chip_iTT (Nov 14, 2003)

I'm sorry, but how many of you that say 'she should have finished it' have ever actually run a marathon, competitively or otherwise? For that matter, how many of you have ever actually done anything of the sort or pushed yourselves to the limit in any way at all?

I have run London twice, having trained hard for it... on the second run I was struggling after twisting my knee at the 20 mile mark and the ONLY thing that kept me going was the Â£10,000 sponsorship a lot of people had worked hard to get for me.... otherwise I know I would have given up at that point... despite having completed a marathon distance several times before in training. Sometimes, when you hit that limit of your endurance its very hard to go on without an external driver... and Paula had no reason to potentially injure herself knowing she was out of medal contention... and I understand that, as I equally understand why she can't explain. For the record, my finishing on a twisted knee means I can no longer run more than 6 miles before my knee gives way... I'd love a chance to run another marathon but I don't have that option.... Paula does.

I hope she decides to run the 10k this Friday, but equally if she decides not to, I'll be the first to accept and agree with her decision.

And comparing Paula with that overpaid berk Beckham .... get a life please...


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## r1 (Oct 31, 2002)

Chip_iTT said:


> I'm sorry, but how many of you that say 'she should have finished it' have ever actually run a marathon, competitively or otherwise? For that matter, how many of you have ever actually done anything of the sort or pushed yourselves to the limit in any way at all?
> 
> I have run London twice.


I should have guessed it from your 'have you ever run a marathon' comment to me in the other Radcliffe thread. :roll:

As for you agreeing with her decisions, so what? That's to say everyone has to does it? I happen to agree with your sentiment - just disagree with your aloofness. :?


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## jam (May 8, 2002)

Chip_iTT said:


> I'm sorry, but how many of you that say 'she should have finished it' have ever actually run a marathon, competitively or otherwise? For that matter, how many of you have ever actually done anything of the sort or pushed yourselves to the limit in any way at all?


That's not the point. She's in the priviledged position of representing her country at the Olympic Games so she should have completed the race instead of giving up when she realised that she couldn't get a medal (which is what I believe happened)

Just my opinion which I'm entitled too


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## jonah (Aug 17, 2002)

Running a marathon is 75% state of mind and 25% fitness, your body is constantly telling you to stop as is your brain and the only thing that keeps you going is your mental strength.
Paula would of had a game plan and once she saw that it wasn't working and every attemp to address this was being met by failiure the mental strength disapears and the body gives up.
I do hope she runs in the 10K as she hasn't anything to loose IMO
Jonah


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## vlastan (May 6, 2002)

jam said:


> Chip_iTT said:
> 
> 
> > I'm sorry, but how many of you that say 'she should have finished it' have ever actually run a marathon, competitively or otherwise? For that matter, how many of you have ever actually done anything of the sort or pushed yourselves to the limit in any way at all?
> ...


I agree with Jam. This is not the point. Paula is a pro and she has been training for this marathon for 4 years since the last Olympic games. You don't expect professionals to give up like this, when you ChipiTT completed the race with a hurt knee for Â£10k. You displayed your determination to continue and not dissapoint your sponshors, but she gave up and she is a pro.

If you can complete the Marathon...why Paula can't?


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## Matthew (Oct 6, 2003)

vlastan said:


> jam said:
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> > Chip_iTT said:
> ...


Well, they were different marathons for a start. I don't know whether Irving would have completed the Athens one or not, since I have no idea of his fitness but I'd wager that the Athens one is far more gruelling due to the heat.

I'm just confused as to why it seems necessary to crucify her for not finishing the race? She had her reasons - Give her some respect for God's sake. Her past performances have earned her the right to do whatever she likes, even if that means giving up when she was at the point of exhaustion. Maybe that's not good enough, but I don't respect her any less for it.

It's not like she was just given the opportunity to represent her country by some random selection; She earned it by training her guts out and dedicating her life to it. I'd give anything to have that level of dedication instead of being the lazy arsed slacker that I so obviously am. So she didn't make it - Do you think that anyone on here can have any possible concept of how bad SHE feels about it? For someone of her calibre nobody is going to be more disappointed with her performance than she will be.

I'm sure the thread will run and run (unlike Paula!  ) and it's just my opinion.


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## snaxo (May 31, 2002)

Matthew said:


> vlastan said:
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> > jam said:
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Here here Matthew. You have reflected my opinion on this nicely.

Damian


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## Steve_Mc (May 6, 2002)

How does this:



> Well, they were different marathons for a start. I don't know whether Irving would have completed the Athens one or not, since I have no idea of his fitness but I'd wager that the Athens one is far more gruelling due to the heat.


tally with this:



> Her past performances have earned her the right to do whatever she likes


How can you give her respect for her past marathons if, by your own admission, the only ones she has done are less gruelling and the first time she has to do a tough course, she gives up?

A ture Olympian would have finished, even on their hands and knees if necessary. Paula's always engendered public support and sympathy for being a plucky trier with only minor medals and a litany of fourth places to her name. It's understandable that she may lose a reasonable amount of this support for simply giving up. A true Brit, a true Olympain, doesn't quit, especially if uninjured. (The same goes for Chris Newton who quit the points race yesterday).

Strangely my personal flame is not her quitting (the above seeks only to explain why she is getting flamed for jessying out), but the tears and pages upon pages of press coverage that have followed. She wasn't good enough on the day, fair enough, but let's move on and spare me the wringing of hands and soul searching post-mortems :roll:


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## chip (Dec 24, 2002)

Based on what I've seen to-date, I firmly believe she's a quitter, unless her medical results (due next Mon) proves otherwise. It's strange why she stopped running / balling her eyes out once after she was overtaken for the 3rd position,...


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## Matthew (Oct 6, 2003)

Steve_Mc said:


> How does this:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I can quite easily tally it up - Her past performances may not have been in that marathon but that hardly means she doesn't deserve respect and recognition. I can see your point, but don't agree.

I do, however, agree with the point (if I took it the right way) about the coverage of her apparent temporary mental collapse but that's not really her fault. She can't help having a good old blubber as she is obviously upset, but I felt kind of bad for her having those moments spread all over the papers and on the TV. As usual the media have had a field day with this and it's made the whole episode more annoying to me, particularly when there's far more important stuff going on in the world.

As for beiung a "True Brit", if she was going to be a true brit then the end result of her efforts just about hit the mark. We have been underachieving in pretty much every sport you can imagine for ages yet somehow seem to believe that we have this God given right to win everything when we continually fail to provide young talented athletes with adequate support and facilities. Fat boy Prescott seems more interested in providing new homes on green belt land and ripping up playing fields than making an effort to help our young sports men and women to make the grade. Unless, of course you believe what Bliar has suddenly said today......


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