Will Paula be her own worst enemy?

By Laura Smith-Spark
BBC News Online

Radcliffe 'must set herself a realistic goal in the 10,000m'

The biggest challenge facing Paula Radcliffe as she prepares for the 10,000m may be dealing with the pressure she puts on herself.

Sport psychologist Paul Dent, who works with the UK's Olympic divers, said Radcliffe had to overcome a "huge mental blow" after her marathon failure.

He told BBC News Online that opting to join the line-up for the 1950 BST race on Friday was a big gamble for the runner.

"If it doesn't go too well she has the legacy of an extremely bad Olympics," he said.

But Mr Dent, who works for the English Institute of Sport, said Radcliffe would only have entered the 10,000m if she felt confident of a top-five finish.

She wanted to be the best and hadn't considered the fact that she might not be Sports psychologist Paul Dent Radcliffe to run 10,000m Mota backs Paula 10,000m bid

And he rejected suggestions that carrying the nation's hopes on her shoulders had contributed to her quitting Sunday's marathon four miles from the end.

He said: "I don't believe public expectation is the problem.

"I don't believe athletes at this elite level cannot deal with the media pressure. All of them have media training, they know what the pressure will be.

"The pressure actually comes from themselves to excel at the highest level and that's what makes them great athletes - that driving force to be the best.

Realistic goal

"That ultimately was Paula's undoing - she wanted to be the best and hadn't considered the fact that she might not be."

He said it was vital Radcliffe set herself a "realistic" goal for the 10,000m race - which might not mean a medal.

"She set herself up totally to achieve the gold in the marathon and that was taken away from her," he said.

Radcliffe holds the fastest time for the women's 10,000m this year

"She needs to be very clear about what she is going to achieve tonight - if she is going out to win a gold medal, that is a very difficult position to put herself in.

"If she is going out to run a good race and defines that in her own terms, it would be a very different thing."

He said the runner's best strategy would be to try to grind her opponents into the ground by dictating the pace from the start.

Whether she succeeded in this would depend on her remaining emotional and physical strength.

'Fourth again'

"Only Paula would actually know how much she had left after the marathon," he said.

"An athlete in the position of Paula, seeing an athlete go past them to leave them in fourth - for the third or fourth time - after the huge amount of training she did, was a huge mental and physical blow.

"You could just see it going through her mind - 'fourth again' - and she couldn't do anything about it."

Mr Dent said the best advice he could give Radcliffe, who holds the best time in the world this year for the women's 10,000m, would be to rest and seek solitude as she waits for the race to start.

It's not so much the training but the driving force inside that will be the spur for her to continue Paul Dent

"It's hard in the Village because it's not a very private place," he said.

"She will have to find some peace and quiet to focus on what she wants rather than being asked lots of questions."

As for Radcliffe's chances of success on Friday, Mr Dent said it was probable even she did not know - and that was part of the problem.

If the race does not go well, Radcliffe will need to take the time to assess where to go in the future.

"She would need to go away and see what motivates her in terms of her sport and how to carry on," he said.

"It's not so much the training but the driving force inside that will be the spur for her to continue."