London, Sept 19: Paula Radcliffe looks forward to the Olympic Games. After missing the World Athletics championships through injury, Paula Radcliffe says she is now approaching full fitness and everything she is doing is in preparation for the Olympic Games.
A week after her successful return from the injury that kept her away from Paris, the Englishwoman is taking part in this weekend's Great North Run in Gateshead, England. Radcliffe thinks it's a great event and a quality field has been assembled. She also plans to compete for Britain in the world half marathon championships but is unlikely to run another full marathon before the end of the Olympics, prefering to use the shorter distances to sharpen up her performances. Radcliffe is also intested in testing herself in Japan where road running has great prominence. One of her biggest rivals in Athens will be defending champion Naoko Takahshi who enjoys cult status in her homeland Japan.
Radcliffe intends to enter both the 10,000 metres and the marathon in the 2004 Olympics but thinks she will probably just take part in the marathon where she will be the hot favourite.


Bureau Report