Radcliffe determined to compete

Paula Radcliffe is in bullish spirits about her chances of competing in Beijing and said that nothing will prevent her from racing, except a broken leg.

The 34-year-old runner had looked destined to miss out on the Games when an MRI scan in May revealed a stress fracture in her left thigh.

However, the marathon world record-holder has defied medical opinion, having started running again a number of weeks ago following a period of rehabilitation at her base in the Pyrenees.

Radcliffe linked up with the Team GB squad at their Macau base, where she will begin the last few steps towards realising her ambition of an Olympic gold, the only gap in a highly-successful athletics career.

While optimistic about her chances of starting the race, she raised doubts about her chances of winning and said: "I don't know, but I'm guessing I'm probably not in two hours, 12 minutes shape - I just think if you put yourself on the start line, you're in there with a chance.

"The whole thing has been a race against time and a nightmare from when it was diagnosed and everything's had to change and adapt to that.

"I'm getting more confident day by day because every day that you run more on it, it gets stronger."

The Games have always been a source of poor luck for Radcliffe, who did not finish either of her two events in Athens four years ago and was unable to leave with a medal from the two previous tournaments.

"The whole thing has been a race against time and a nightmare from when it was diagnosed and everything's had to change and adapt to that.

"I'm getting more confident day by day because every day that you run more on it, it gets stronger."

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