unclebuck

in the 10,000m.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olym...cs/3597228.stm

Excellent, do you think we'll be treated to another hissy fit if she doesn't win?

UB

ozzy

Probably. Well either from her or you

TelBoy

I heard she was actually entering the 5,000 metres??

















At least, that's the point at which she'll be giving up....

RichWalk

Bloody good luck to the girl I say, just hope she is doing it for the right reasons, not through guilt or external pressures.

Neanderthal

iTrader: (6)

I hope she wins otherwise I'd hate to see the emotional breakdown!!
She'll never come back from it!

unclebuck

I wonder why nobody ever wishes Kelly Holmes luck? After all she's on course for a *second* gold medal, and she doesn't blub if she loses. Is it 'cos she is black?

COME ON KELLY!!!



UB

ScoobyDriverWannabe

Good luck to her , out off all the peeps theres shes the one i would of most liked to have seen win a medal, after winning more or less everything else she deserves it.

But wheather she wins or not she has still been a Excellent Briting athlete

Drunken Bungle Whore

If it's the right decision for her then it's the right decision. Life is definitely about trying - even though you may fail - rather than living with the regret of not even giving it a go!

I trust those taking the mick about her dropping out of the marathon are all accomplished athletes!

As Wayne Gretszky said "Statistically speaking, 100% of the shots you don't take, won't go in"

'Nuff Said!

(Apart from GO PAULA, KELLY and everyone else competing for Team GB!)

InvisibleMan

on the radio this morning, that olympic medalist brendan commentator geezer said "dont expect her to win..."

Neanderthal

iTrader: (6)

don't get me wrong, I wish her luck just found it odd that she gave up even though in 4th.
You wouldn't see Schmacher just pulling to the side of the track if he was 4th with only 3 laps to go!?

Brendan Hughes

You would if he ran out of fuel.

Simon C

Ok, so the situation was slightly different, but didn't Sir Steven Redgrave cry after winning his 4th medal with the quote, " If you see me near a boat again you....." and then come out of retirement to win his 5th?

gsm1

He also said it on the TV as well ("Paula Radcliffe may win medals but it won't be in these games") and also claiming there was not enough time between the two races for Radcliffe to rest. Well it's always been that way, Brendan, so please give up talking out of your ar*e. I always had a lot of respect for the bloke before, not anymore.

Drunken Bungle Whore

The commentators have been wrong with astounding regularity at the Olympics. As they usually are!

SiPie

Never a truer word said and I think they have been wrong (re track and field anyway) even more than normal

A particular favourite when Paula was starting to struggle in the marathon:

RB5 Paul

When does the olympics finish?

ozzy

Brendan Foster was being realistic and he has a point. She'll still be feeling the ill effects of the Marathon and none of the other 10,000m competitors will have the same tiredness entering into the race.

I'm sure those that have slated her will be on here singing her praises if she wins

Stefan

MooseRacer

Stefan, if she wins it'll only add fuel to the 'she shouldn't have given upin the marathon' brigade. Because that's what she did you know - gave up

scoobynutta555

Hope she does well in her next race. A bit out of her control, but the newspapers were all calling her a hero when she pulled out of the marathon. Can't quite make the connection between failing to finish because she wasn't going to win a medal, and being a hero.

Seems to me the media were falling over themselves to make hero platitudes. The Cram 'interview' was very cringeworthy.

There are several athletes who picked themselves out of a bad situation and carried on. Clinching a bronze in the Madison event the Brit team showed guts and determination after a bad fall in the race.

And the Brit in the Triathlon who ran a few k's carrying his bike and finished nowhere.

These to me are sporting heros, not quitters.

MooseRacer

UB - Kelly winning gold in the 800 was fantastic. After all the setbacks she's had in her career it was great to see her come good.

gsm1

Everyone knew that before the games. Brendan didn't say this before today. Sorry, the guy just keeps talking cack and then trying to back it up.
Michael Johnson has been the best commentator for me.

Drunken Bungle Whore

Not sure why I'm bothering but here goes anyway. Anyone who's followed Paulas career since before she got into the media knows she's not a quitter. For Paula to pull out of a major race like that there must have been something horribly wrong. She's battled and fought her way through the Cross Country and the 10,000m metre world before she took the marathon world by storm. She characteristically led races from the start before being beaten in 4th on the home straight. Every time she pushed herself to the limit.

Anyone who knocks her and call her a quitter should be shot. She is out there doing her very best for herself and her country - anyone else on here doing the same?

Guess knocking her is easier and more fun eh? That's just the British way - is there anyone who doesn't get ripped apart at some stage? Trust me Kelly Holmes is the darling now, but just wait till she looses a little form, then all the back stabbers will creep out from under their stones again....

scoobynutta555

Not quite sure why you're bothering either.

Paula Radcliffe has done exceeding well for herself running for her country.I'd love to be able to represent my country and be the richest marathon runner in the world and worth several millions, just like Radcliffe.

Every other British athlete I have seen have given 100% in their field. Even when there was no hope of a medal, or like the examples I have given above and you so graciously have copied.

I would be far happier with the bronze in the Madison event won by the Brits than any gold Paula Radcliffe might win. You watch a race like that then come back to me who is doing their very best for their country.

Should be shot. PMSL at that comment, keep playing with the plastecine.

Drunken Bungle Whore

Wow - that put me in my place! Personal insults like that - you obviously have a very strong point to make and the vocab with which to make it..... I'm sure the cycling team are very proud to have you in their corner

And IIR didn't one of our cyclists quit and cycle right out of the velodrome...? Or would that be rather different? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olym...ng/3595446.stm

No-one at the Olympics is a quitter. If they were then they wouldn't have got that far in the first place.

scoobynutta555

This isn't some cycling versus marathon post

I'm not talking about the cycling team per se, I was using the examples of individuals in events that completed their tasks with great courage with either no medal in place or coming from behind through sheer guts and determination. I could also mention the 2 British girls in the marathon who finished well down the list, yet felt they could finish without a medal.

The example you show is exactly the same as Radcliffes, and its totally the wrong kind of attitude.

Personal insults? Coming from somebody who says people should be shot for their opinions PMSL

and "No-one at the Olympics is a quitter." Absolute rubbish.

A tip for you, think before you post up on here.

Drunken Bungle Whore

Ouch <winces> you really are a demon with those insults! I was hoping for a reasoned discussion with a sensible adult who would take the 'being shot' part in the spirit it was intend. Sadly not so.

I am obvously in the presence of a great sporting mind and will slink away and lick my wounds some more - one day I will think before I post on here. I'll remind myself that the chances of a reasoned, sensible discussion are highly unlikely.

I'd be intruged to know how you feel that people who've dedicated at least 4 years (and usually a lot more) to their sport - getting up at 5am 7 days a week, not seeing loved ones etc etc etc are quitters. To be in a position to say that, you really must have achieved some really impressive things......

Leslie

I really can't be bothered with all the theories about whether she will be successful or not. I am pleased that she has entered and just hope that she will do well, as much for her own sake as ours. She has done us proud on many occasions and she has my full support, I believe that she deserves that at least as a British athlete, rather than a load of carping comments.

By the same token, if she does not do well, she will not go down in my estimation. She has already proved herself as a star in my opinion.

I also support Kelly Holmes to the same extent and for the same reasons, she has come through despite all her past problems, and I will be shouting for her as well. She too is a real athlete and an outstanding representative of our country.

Les

unclebuck

There was - she was not going to win a medal. There's no honour in quitting.

UB

scoobynutta555

Pah. You think I'm insulting you. Well, nothing is a bigger insult than the drivel you come out with to back your position from.
The only person you're shooting around here is yourself, right in the foot.

Think being a multimillionare eased her pain when she dropped out of the race. I dare say when she was relatively potless when she first started she wouldn't have quit. Perhaps you being a Radcliffe anorak you may be able to shed some light on this.

Face facts, she quit the race as she couldn't win. Whomever quits like that in spite or rattles out the old injury chestnut are just bad losers. People seem to be forgetting she's not only running as Paula Radcliffe, she's running as a representitive of Great Britain.

There are countless 'nobodies' in the Olympic team that aren't millionaires, get up at 5 am 7 days a week not seeing loved ones (strange comment BTW seeing as I'll assume that most hard working people will have to work without their 'loved ones' sitting next to them).

Brit_in_Japan

I see shades of Princess Diana-type hysteria in all this. The press hyped her up so much that they were almost setting her up for a fall (no pun intended). I bet she hated the "Britain's best chance for gold" headlines, it must have put pressure on her.

I can't believe that she was unprepared physically, the world's fastest woman over a marathon distance and with the coaching and backup she no doubt had. If she lost it for any reason it was probably psycological. Maybe she just didn't fancy the course, maybe she simply doesn't enjoy running in those temperatures, maybe she went into it thinking anything less than gold was a failure and not worth having, maybe, maybe...

Maybe we'll see in the 10,000m what she's really made out of. Another blubbing failure will hurt her future PR value so I hope for her sake she at least sticks it out until the end, whatever position she's in.