BEIJING — The Olympics always seem to bring heartbreak to Paula Radcliffe, the British long-distance runner, and Sunday was no different.
In the end, there was only disappointment for the fastest female marathoner in the world. A freakish pain in her calf hobbled Radcliffe, forcing her to stop twice during the race to work out the pain and then struggle into the National Stadium in 23rd place.
"I felt like I was just running on one leg," Radcliffe said of the pain in her left calf.
She broke into tears repeatedly as she described the battle, saying she would have walked across the marathon finish line if necessary to finish the race.
Radcliffe, 34, smashed the world record in the marathon in London in 2003, and has a career capped with world and European medals. But in Athens at the 2004 Olympics, she ended up on the side of the road, her head in her hands at the 23-mile mark, stopped by stomach pain.
Going into Sunday's Olympic race, Radcliffe was iffy, still bothered by a stress fracture to her left femur that saw her only return to heavy training in mid-July.
By mid-morning Sunday, Romania's Constantina Tomescu had taken the gold medal after completing the race in 2:26:44, followed by Catherine Ndereba of Kenya who won the silver, and China's Zhou Chunxiu who took the bronze. The only American to finish was Blake Russell (27th in 2:33:13). Deena Kastor stopped more than 3 miles into the race because of a broken right foot. Magda Lewy, the third American qualifier, withdrew because of a knee ailment.
Twice during the race through the streets of Beijing, Radcliffe stopped to stretch her calf. The second time she leaned against a railing, barely three miles from the Bird's Nest stadium where a roaring crowd greeted the winners.
"If it had felt like I was really doing some serious damage, then I would have stopped. It's horrible when you have to drop out, especially when it's the Olympic Games. There are so many people have worked so hard to get me here," she said.
"In some ways it's almost quicker just to keep going because you're just left out there on your own if you stop."
Radcliffe said it was particularly frustrating for her to be hobbled by the pain when she felt particularly fit otherwise.
"I wanted to finish. It was really frustrating because I actually felt really comfortable, and I could talk and tell Gary (Lough, her husband and coach) what was wrong. I just couldn't go any quicker," she said.
Radcliffe and other runners described weather conditions as good.
"There couldn't have been better conditions. When I started to struggle I got a whole lot of trucks around me and that was really annoying. I was getting lots of fumes on top of everything else," she said.
Radcliffe's running career has been dealt setbacks before. In March 2003, she suffered a freak accident in Albuquerque, N.M., when a young girl on a bicycle clipped her foot while she was on a long run, sending her flat on her face and dislocating her jaw. She was up and running within two days, and set the world record of 2:15:25 in London only a month later.
Following Sunday's setback, Radcliffe said she would go on vacation with her husband and 19-month-old daughter Isla, then start looking ahead for redemption at the London 2012 Olympics, vowing to keep on running competitively into her late 30s.
"The marathon is one event you can hopefully keep going. Maybe one year, I'll get some luck," she said. "I'm going to be what, 38? Look at Constantina. How old is she, 38?"
Besides, throngs of her compatriots are likely to turn out for her at the next Olympics.
"The support I'll have in London will be a huge help to me," Radcliffe said. "I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for 2012."