A biography for Paula Radcliffehasn’t been written yet.
“In my Olympic history I don't think I have achieved my potential as an athlete. That's what I want when I look back at my career. I want to be able to say I gave it my best shot.”
“There's always going to be somebody who takes a dislike to you and you can't waste time worrying about it.”
“You see, with me, when I'm nervous, I smile and laugh.”
“No one remembers who came fourth.”
“In the week before a race, I try to stay away from germ areas. I keep disinfectant wipes in my bag for when I have to use a supermarket trolley or something like that.”
“I set myself some specific goals, but the key one is just getting myself into as good a shape as possible for one day this year: the Olympic marathon.”
“Yeah, ideally, I'd probably wish to be more anonymous. But scrutiny and success go together. And I want to be successful.”
“Actually I don't choose to expose myself in public. I choose to compete; the other side just comes with the package.”
“An Olympic medal won't define my whole life, although it might look like it to onlookers. When I look back, I should have been able to get an Olympic medal.”
“In the marathon anything can happen.”
“I'm not meek at all.”
“I actually got a nice surprise about being a mother because I expected it to be harder and to have to make more adaptations.”
“I'm confident of what I have to achieve in the buildup to London 2012.”
“You can't magic yourself back 10 years.”
“I never plan to run at a certain pace. All my career my motto has been 'no limits.' I don't try to run with a set time in mind, sticking to set splits, because what happens if you're ahead of your splits - are you going to slow down?”
“If I start planning then that's dangerous because then I have a target that I'm blinkered towards and I won't listen to the warning signs quite so much. I'd rather be in shape and then look around and say there's a race next week and jump into that than have it planned.”
“I took a lot of bad things after Athens. I just learnt to deal with it. The problem was beforehand I had this feeling where I was trying to please everybody - I wanted everybody to like me.”
“I try not to worry about things that I can't control.”
“Never set limits, go after your dreams, don't be afraid to push the boundaries. And laugh a lot - it's good for you!”
“I would be happy with an Olympic bronze. What I don't have is an Olympic medal.”