Radcliffe eyes Beijing after win in New York

PAULA RADCLIFFE will turn her attention to the Beijing Olympics women’s marathon following her comeback victory in New York last night.

The British world marathon record holder returned to the 26.2 mile distance after a two-year lay-off to win the ING New York City Marathon, defeating Ethiopia’s Gete Wami in dramatic style in Central Park, 26 months after winning the world championship marathon title in Helsinki in her last race before becoming pregnant.

Radcliffe, 33, gave birth to daughter Isla in January, and would have come back sooner had she not suffered a stress fracture to her sacrum, at the base of the spine.

However, following an initial run for second at the Great North Run on September 30, the performance in New York was worth the wait, clocking 2 hours 23 minutes and 9 seconds, to lead from wire to wire and hold off old rival Wami by 23 seconds, with two-time defending champion Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia third in 2:26.13, 3:04 behind Radcliffe.

Even New York, however, is a stepping stone to greater objectives and, for Radcliffe, Beijing next summer is her number one priority.

“I think it’s a good first step back,” Radcliffe said. “I’m happy enough with that and I’ll go away and take my break and get back into training and see if I come out of this before I make any decisions about what I’ll do between now and Beijing.

“Even though I’ve got just over 10 weeks of running training behind me, I’m pleased with how things came together. I’ll see how my legs have recovered after my break and decide whether I need to (run another marathon before Beijing).”