Quotes By Paula Radcliffe

I've always been good at putting things behind me - I fall apart, do my crying bit and then put it away and move it.

I set myself some specific goals, but the key one is just getting myself into as good a shape as possible for one day this year: the Olympic marathon.

I cry all the time.

I have always run as hard as I can. You are not going to run any harder with or without men. You are running on your own two feet.

I just want to be in the best shape I can be. Not to stand on that start line and say: 'Oh my God, I have this injury and that injury.' I just want to be able to go out and race.

To represent your country at a home Olympics is something special and I'm over the moon to be selected for Team GB. I was pleased to get the qualifying time in Berlin earlier this year and my sole focus is getting in the right shape for London.

No one remembers who came fourth.

The biggest danger is trying to put too much pressure on yourself, trying to get in too good shape.

I'm not meek at all.

I try not to worry about things that I can't control.

In the week before a race, I try to stay away from germ areas. I keep disinfectant wipes in my bag for when I have to use a supermarket trolley or something like that.

I've been to three Olympics and I don't feel I've ever quite achieved my best at any of them.

I can't imagine living and not running.

It's totally different from last year because I came in with good shape with no health worries so it was about going out there and running well and enjoying it.

I have achieved a lot and I'm grateful for that - I'm just a bit greedy because I want to add the Olympics. It's once every four years - everyone wants it and very few people get it.

An Olympic medal won't define my whole life, although it might look like it to onlookers. When I look back, I should have been able to get an Olympic medal.

At big championships it's not the fastest person, it's the person who gets it right on the day.

I took a lot of bad things after Athens. I just learnt to deal with it. The problem was beforehand I had this feeling where I was trying to please everybody - I wanted everybody to like me.

I actually got a nice surprise about being a mother because I expected it to be harder and to have to make more adaptations.

I've had a lot of success over the years racing in New York, but the main point is that I feel the marathon is a different event, a lot more my event.

I am not going to let Athens affect the rest of my life.

You can't magic yourself back 10 years.

I would be happy with an Olympic bronze. What I don't have is an Olympic medal.

There's always going to be somebody who takes a dislike to you and you can't waste time worrying about it.

I apologise to people when I need to.

For an athlete, the biggest pressure comes from within. You know what you want to do and what you're capable of.

I am not driven by any bitterness by what happened in Athens. I learnt a lot of lessons from it and probably came through it a stronger person in the end. There have been a lot of near misses, and that's taught me to keep persevering and that there is a chance it can come right.

Actually I don't choose to expose myself in public. I choose to compete; the other side just comes with the package.

In my Olympic history I don't think I have achieved my potential as an athlete. That's what I want when I look back at my career. I want to be able to say I gave it my best shot.

I have not had the chance to go out there and do myself justice in an Olympic marathon yet. I have not been able to get to an Olympic marathon injury-free yet.