LONDON – Paula Radcliffe has admitted her comeback from surgery to remove a bunion from her right foot might not come until after the World Championships in Berlin in August.
The world record holder in the marathon had the operation in March and is due to resume road running next week. She expects to be back in full training by mid-June and, all being well, should have resumed competition in time for Berlin.
But she acknowledged that the timetable could easily slip after surgery she hopes will address the root cause of the injuries that have plagued her career.
‘Hopefully I’ll make the World Championships in the summer, but if I don’t it will be an autumn marathon,’ she said yesterday.
‘I don’t really know what my chances are of making the competition. The program has me back to full training by the middle of June and if everything goes according to plan it should be feasible.
Radcliffe has already won a marathon world title – in 2005 – and she is aiming to prolong her career until 2012 in the hope of finally claiming an Olympic gold at the age of 38.
The Englishwoman has suffered heartbreak at the last two Olympics.
In Athens in 2004 she was unable to finish the race and she could only manage 23rd place in Beijing last year after failing to regain her peak performance level in the aftermath of a stress fracture in her left thigh.
– Nampa-AFP
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