Paula Radcliffe has a stress fracture....bye bye Beijing

Time for the G-Trainer

The femur? Can any orthopedic experts confirm my intuitition here that an injury to such a significant weight bearing bone is likely one that is not susceptible to any sort of quick recovery?

Sounds like she still expects to run in Beijing.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympics/athletics/7406108.stm

She supposedly DNF'd in Athens because of Advil and some soreness.

At least the UK still has Yelling. She got most of the live coverage at London so she must be as good as Radcliffe.

i'm no expert, just a serial patient. the stress fracture i had in my femur (shaft, not neck) healed on the same time scale as that of my non-weight-bearing fibula, so you can take this as a nonconfirmation of your intuition and hopefully good news for paula. she has three months until the beijing race, which is plenty of time to heal. peaking for the marathon in the meantime is something she and her coaching/medical team will have to figure out.

I'm sure than anyone who has had a femoral stress fracture knows that this is an injury which takes a long time and alot of rest to get better.

There really isn't much you can do to cross train, I was told to basically rest fully for 6-8 weeks because even being in the pool put some force through the hip and could result in delaying full healing. This definitely isn't the type of injury you could let heal partway and then get through a marathon with either.

I feel really bad for her, that sucks.

i'm not saying it's likely she can go in beijing, but if anyone can do it, paula can

Britain should be boycotting the Olympics anyway.

I don’t know if this bloke knows what he’s talking about - should do as a sports physician - but it doesn’t look good.

Sports physician Dr Kalpesh Parmar told BBC Sport that a stress fracture was a "disaster"' for Radcliffe.

"It's difficult to know without seeing the scans or the patient, but if it's a stress fracture to the femur it's a minimum of six weeks for the leg to heal," he said.

"She will also be deconditioned, so will need a similar length of time even after the injury has healed. A fracture could keep her out for a long time.

"If it's bone stress as opposed to a fracture, then it won't necessarily be as long, but if she has been running with pain it could be symptomatic."

Radcliffe believes the bone could heal in two weeks, but Dr Parmar, of Pure Sports Medicine, added: "It sounds like she's being very optimistic. There are procedures we can do for bone stress, but not for a fracture."

Odd that with all the finance available and access to the best possible medical advice - it still took ages to get a correct diagnosis.

Wouldn’t surprise me if Paula (as with most athletes) starts training on it before it heals and makes it worse.

But just how many top-class marathons does one have in one’s legs anyway?

Will Paula ever run as fast as she did, what was it - about five years ago - ever again?

I'll cry if Paula wins the Olympics, if anyone deserves it, its her.

GEE-WHIZZ wrote:

I'll cry if Paula wins the Olympics, if anyone deserves it, its her.

Why does she deserve it? I'd say just the opposite. She has residence in Monaco to avoid paying British taxes.

Does EPO weaken bone?

[quote/]

Why does she deserve it? I'd say just the opposite. She has residence in Monaco to avoid paying British taxes.[/quote]

Which is relevant how?

Her three previous and upcoming Olympic tourism trips have been courtesy of the UK dime. Wasn't her early career funded by UKA?

Paula is a great runner but I have no time for tax exiles, we have one of the lowest income tax rates in Europe and yet she chooses to reside in MONACO. Exactly how much money does she need? The highest rate of tax in the uk is 40%, regardless of how many millions you are bringing in. Money mad I say!

Why should the uk public support her when she contributes nothing to uk society financially?

Turn her over and get a fork.

I think she is done!

she might prefer monaco because the surrounding community wouldn't be so full of stupid people who know nothing about her or her sport but take every opportunity to mouth off about her and her sport

Anything that she would earn in the UK - she would pay UK taxes ( races, endorsements etc.). If she doesnt earn it in the UK then she wouldn't . I would hazard a guess that she still pays many times what most UK citizens pay in tax. Think about it.