HAYLEY Haining is content to wait in the wings and keep herself fully prepared for an Olympic debut should Paula Radcliffe bow to medical advice and pull out of this summer's marathon.
Haining, nominated as reserve for Beijing after narrowly losing out to Liz Yelling in last month's trial race to join Radcliffe and Mara Yamauchi, will not hustle Radcliffe to withdraw.
Radcliffe has ignored medical advice and is determined to ch
ase Olympic gold in China despite suffering a stress fracture to her left thigh.
The world marathon record holder has returned to Font Romeu, her altitude training base in the French Pyrenees, to prove the doctors wrong by continuing her preparations for a fourth Olympic appearance.
The 34-year-old Bedford runner is determined to settle "some unfinished business" and make up for the disappointment of dropping out in Athens four years ago when she was favourite.
Haining is content to bide her time and keep herself in shape should Radcliffe eventually decide the doctors are right and admit she cannot take her place on the Beijing start line. "I wouldn't wish that to happen, it would be sad for anybody who has to give up their Olympic place," said Haining – who was considered equal in talent to Radcliffe as a teenager until injury prevented her pursuing a full-time athletics career.
The 35-year-old Scot added: "UK Athletics were in touch with me a few weeks ago and asked if I wished to be nominated as a reserve. If the opportunity comes up, I would kick myself if I was not ready. I'm just planning to keep the momentum of marathon training throughout the summer and remaining focused."
Haining spoke after finishing sixth in today's BUPA London 10,000m road race where Beijing-bound Yamauchi and Yelling finished runner-up and fourth as Germany's London Marathon title holder Irina Mikitenko returned to the capital to win in 32 minutes and two seconds.
Yelling claimed it should be left to Radcliffe to decide whether she can compete in Beijing. "I think everyone should just give her room to make her own decision," said Yelling, who will be making a second successive Olympic marathon appearance in China.
"She needs a chance to prove her fitness and that she can get there. People shouldn't give up on her and ask her to throw in the towel now. She'll know next month where she stands and only Paula can answer that question.
"She wants to win the gold medal, but it would still be an awesome achievement if she came away with the bronze medal."
Dan Robinson, the sole athlete named in the men's Olympic marathon team, also emphasised that Radcliffe was right to question the medical opinion. Radcliffe decided to pursue her dream even after an MRI scan showed that what she thought was a hip injury was a much more serious stress fracture to her femur.
The Commonwealth bronze medallist said: "It's the Olympic Games we're talking about and despite what the specialists say, Paula knows her own body better than anyone. "I just hope she makes it. She's still got eight to ten weeks good training ahead of her and that would be enough."
Robinson stressed that because of the hot and humid conditions expected in Beijing, Radcliffe would not need to be in world record condition to be competitive. He insisted: "She doesn't need to be in two hours 15 minutes shape. The race is likely to be won in the two hours 20 minutes and that's what she's got to get ready for."
The British No 1, in his last race before knuckling down to a 13-week Olympic build-up to his final on 24 August, finished 10th.
Kenya's Micah Kogo, the UK allcomers' record holder for the 10km distance, won by seven seconds ahead of Eritrea's IAAF world road running champion Zersenay Tadese in 28min 8 sec, with Mo Farah the first domestic finisher in third (28:39).
The full article contains 677 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
