Radcliffe will be hoping to repeat her world title success in Helsinki in 2005
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Paula Radcliffe will attempt to regain the marathon world title after being named in the Great Britain team for the IAAF World Championships in Berlin. The 2005 champion has been selected following her recovery from a foot operation she underwent in March. UK Athletics head coach Charles van Commenee described the 35-year-old as "an athlete of huge calibre". Radcliffe is joined in the Great Britain team by Mara Yamauchi, who finished second in the London Marathon. Yamauchi, 35, also finished sixth in last year's Olympic Games and was ninth in the women's marathon at the most recent World Championships in Osaka in 2007 in Japan, where she lives.
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606: DEBATE
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But her performance in London in April, a race world record-holder Radcliffe missed because of a toe injury, was a career-best effort which saw her cross the line in two hours, 23 minutes and 12 seconds. Great Britain's road athlete contingent for the championships in Germany from 15-23 August is completed by the inclusion of walker Johanna Jackson. UK record-holder Jackson, 24, finished 22nd in the 20k walk at last year's Beijing Olympics. UK Athletics head coach Charles van Commenee said: "We have selected a small, but high-quality team for the road events for Berlin. "Paula Radcliffe and Mara Yamauchi are both proven performers on the international stage, whilst Johanna Jackson is an improving athlete with obvious 2012 potential. "As has been widely publicised, Paula has recently undergone an operation and is hoping to be fully fit for Berlin. "She is an athlete of huge calibre and she will know if she is in shape to be competitive at the World Championships. We are happy to back her all the way." Van Commenee stressed that the focus in Berlin will be on individual success with full teams set to be selected for the World Half Marathon Championships in Birmingham on 11 October.
Video - Yamauchi finishes second in the London Marathon
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