Paula Radcliffe is worried the athletics drugs scandal could put potential young runners off

EXCLUSIVE

Paula Radcliffe is worried the drugs scandal that rocked athletics could lead to fewer young people taking up sport.

For four years the sport has been battling to clear itself from widespread doping, with Russia a particular focus. The Russian athletics federation has been suspended by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) since November 2015.

Radcliffe’s name was linked to “suspicious” data released by the Germany television documentary in 2014 that kicked all this off, but was cleared by the (IAAF) and UK Anti-Doping, which both said there was no evidence against her.

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Since then the sport has been trying to recover from the allegations, with the 44-year old current marathon world record holder leading the line in the war on drugs, but she does admit she is worried for the future.

“We’ve been through a difficult time here in athletics but I think we’re coming out the other side of it,” she told Yahoo Sport UK at the Nike Fast Lab launch of the new Pegasus Turbo running shoe in Berlin. “Lots of things have changed, lots of things have been improved. There’s still some way to go but it’s at the forefront of all the sports in terms of making those changes and restoring that belief and faith and that pride.

“For the runners, people didn’t think about them. It was all about ‘oh the spectators don’t have trust in the sport and we can’t believe in that’. But I was thinking what about the young kids coming into it? It’s their future and they have the right to have a clean sport and to have people believe in their sport and to get excited about their performances,” she added while revealing numbers across all ages have increased recently of people taking up running.

“To know that they’re going to see how good they can be and they’re not going to be competing against people who are cheating so that’s a big element. Not to be disheartened and think ‘what’s the point?’. That’s really hard for young athletes.”

Despite the World Anti-Doping Association saying that life bans for athletes convicted of doping offences are unenforceable in law, Radcliffe, who is working with the Athletics Integrity Unit to help rid the sport of cheaters believes that any athlete guilty of the offence should not be allowed to return to the sport.

“I think it should be a lifetime ban,” she added. “Do what we can, that’s what I keep saying. The number one role is to protect those athletes and give them that level playing field, that’s what we have to do.

“I think we’re getting there. I think the whole philosophy has changed and I’m really proud to be in that department. I look at other sports and think athletics is way ahead in terms of anti-doping.”

Radcliffe was speaking in Berlin a year after fellow Nike athlete Eliud Kipchoge had narrowly missed out on becoming the first person to break a two-hour marathon by just 26 seconds in a specially organised effort, and believes that milestone barrier is getting closer and closer.

“I don’t think it’s so far away,” she added. “Before I went to Monza [for Eliud’s attempt] I was the one saying ’50 years or so? I think it will be done this century but not for a good while yet’. But after the attempt I’m thinking five years? I don’t know if it’s maybe not that far away. I think Eliud is not a million miles away.”

“It’s not like suddenly hundreds are going to be breaking 2 hours, its going to be one then it might be a long time before we see the next one and stuff like that, its going to be a very select club, it’s not that far away.”