Ciara Mageean: Paula Radcliffe ‘sad’ as Irish athlete skips Olympics

Radcliffe, who held the women’s marathon world record for 16 years, was one of Britain’s top athletes but never had much luck at the Olympics.

She abandoned the 2004 Olympic marathon after 22 miles due to a pre-Games injury, then struggled with more physical problems in the run-up to Beijing 2008, and later missed London 2012 due to a foot injury.

Mageean has had similar bad luck with injuries in the run-up to the Olympics, and Radcliffe believes she needs to vent her frustrations in her recovery.

The Achilles issue arose after Mageean won European gold in early June.

“It’s tough. Every athlete has their own way of dealing with that trauma. I like to deal with it and get it out,” Radcliffe said.

“You cry, there’s a lot of frustration. If she’s healthy, she can go out there and really go at it in training and get that frustration out.

“Then you come back at the next opportunity to race again and show what a top athlete she is.

“She knows what type of athlete she is and she knows what she can achieve when she’s good.

“She needs to go now. Let all that emotion out and come back strong for next year.”