Radcliffe will win, easy

Then put your money where your mouth is and go lay down that bet.

Watch for a DNS or DNF.

I pick her to WIN....but shit can happen to anyone in a marathon. Whatever bad MIGHT happen, she will kill herself to finish just out of national pride. The entire country of England is counting on her, and she knows it. I say she wins in 2:24-2:25...the predicted temp. for the 22nd is 94 degrees with a "real feel" of 96. It'll be brutal.

'the entire country of england'

that would be great britain then.

Toh-may-toe, ta-mah-toh. Whatever.

england is england, great britain is england, scotland, wales, the celts get really pissed off with you yanks calling them all english

skylon wrote:

I pick her to WIN....but shit can happen to anyone in a marathon.

Agree. Salazar was the fastest in the world in '84. Who would have thought that Carlos Lopes would win the gold in LA?

She's very team GB oriented in her interviews, I would of hoped she would have shared her Games spirit to all five continents, 5 Olympic rings.

She'll do fabulously well regardless.

Team GB wrote:

I would of hoped she would have

I predict at least 6 runners ahead of her, thus 7th place at the best.

>>Agree. Salazar was the fastest in the world in '84. Who would have thought that Carlos Lopes would win the gold in LA?<<

Not true. Salazar had not won a marathon in 2 years, he had finished second in the US Trials in a slowish time, his shorter distance running sucked by his standards, he finished last or nearly last in '83 at the WC 10,000...in short, the writing was on the walls in BIG BOLD LETTERS that he was not the runner he was in 80-82...

skylon wrote:

I pick her to WIN....but shit can happen to anyone in a marathon.

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Agree. Salazar was the fastest in the world in '84. Who would have thought that Carlos Lopes would win the gold in LA?

_____________________________

True, but Salazar had already clearly shown that he had serious problems going into LA. Paula, despite her injuries that kept her out of the Worlds last year, has demonstrated in her two track races in '04 that the goods are still there.

But, like I said....shit can happen. I hope she wins.

I too, of course, am pulling for Paula to win, this is her best shot and I pick her to win, but anything can happen in the marathon. I feel the Japanese will pack a punch, but I don't think they can match Radcliffe's pace. The real leveling factor, as anyone can see, is the course itself and the conditions. Both marathons should be run at a slower than usual schedule, then really blow upon on the hills around 18-19 miles, that is what I think. I look for Paula to throw in a surge or two just to see what people are game for and if after that, if no one can handle, she will take off. Paula is one of those runners (the ones with true grit) who will rather cough up blood trying to win than surrender defeat. I wish her well and good luck to all the competitors.

actually, I should say best wishes, because there are some things that may be luck, but in the marathon, either you have it or you don't, there arent many flukes in the marathon.

when they stop calling us "yanks", we'll stop calling them english.

billy bob wrote:

Watch for a DNS or DNF.

WHY ?

Actually Arthur Lydiard predicted Lopes would beat Salazar.

Before losing to Pfitzinger at the '84 Olympic Trials, Salazar had lost to De Castella and Lopes in Rotterdam in '83. He was nowhere near being the favorite in the '84 Olympics.

I would pick to Radcliffe to win in Athens, but it's far from a uire thing, and it's certainly not "easy."

Paula will win the race, but fail the drug test afterward. This will be the big story of this Olympics.