Paula Radcliffe's marathon bid ends in tears

Paula Radcliffe's marathon bid ends in tears

Paula Radcliffe's bid for Olympic glory ended in despair as she trailed in 23rd in the women's marathon in Beijing.

Paula Radcliffe's marathon bid ends in tears
Tears of frustration: the courageous Paula Radcliffe is consoled by her British team-mate Liz Yelling in Beijing Photo: Reuters

Romanian Constantina Tomescu took the gold in 2:26.44 with Kenyan Catherine Ndereba claiming silver, pushing China's Zhou Chunxiu into bronze after a sprint battle down the home straight in the Bird's Nest.

Radcliffe briefly stopped two hours and 14 minutes into the race clearly struggling with the injured thigh that had threatened to prevent her competing. Showing huge courage, Radcliffe continued until the end and finished in 2:32.38.

Radcliffe admitted that "my legs had gone" after completing the race - and insisted she hoped to be back for another crack at Olympic glory.

She told BBC One: "I was trying to achieve the impossible I guess. The amount of running I've done coming in wasn't enough.

"Cardiovascularly I felt comfortable but my legs had gone. My calf went first then it went up the entire leg and it felt like I was running on one leg.

"But I didn't do all that work for nothing. It's just really frustrating.

"I was going to the finish line no matter what. I did all the hard work and it feels frustrating because cardiovascularly I don't feel like I've run.

"I tried to to the right things in the race, tried to go after Constantina but my legs weren't there.

"I didn't feel sick or in distress, but there was nothing else I could do."

The 34-year-old Radcliffe admitted the performance of winner Tomescu, who at 38 produced a fine run, has inspired her to keep going until the London Olympics in four years time.

"It's not the end," she added. "I knew I was pushing it coming in with three-and-a-half weeks of running. You can't take shortcuts in the marathon and I guess I learned that today.

"Fingers crossed for 2012. Look at Constantina - maybe I can do that in 2012 if my body holds up. I know in London I'll have all that support.

"I don't think this is redemption for Athens but it would have been for nothing if i hadn't finished."

Mara Yamauchi was sixth in 2:27.29 and third Briton Liz Yelling, who suffered a fall during the race, was 26th in 2:33.12.

She said: "It was really, really good. I felt really happy with sixth.

"She (Tomescu) was very aggressive and I wasn't surprised how she ran. I thought we would catch her but she just held on. There's no way I could have gone with that pace."