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Updated at 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Olympics: Radcliffe to join British team, hopes to run

Associated Press

LONDON — Marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe will join the British Olympic team this weekend in a bid to recover from an injury in time to compete in the race at Beijing on Aug. 17.

The 34-year-old Radcliffe, who is trying to overcome a stress fracture in her thigh, will travel to the British training camp in Macau on Sunday.

"I'm glad Paula's flying out on Sunday," UK Athletics performance director Dave Collins said. "I'm sure she will have been maintaining her professionalism in training."

Radcliffe withdrew from the London Marathon in April because of a toe injury, before being diagnosed with the femur problem in May.

She was the marathon gold-medal favorite at the 2004 Athens Olympics but dropped out about a mile from the end because of stomach problems. A few days later, she dropped out of the 10,000 meters with eight laps remaining.

Radcliffe had her training interrupted by a toe injury in September 2007 when she finished second in a half marathon — her first race in 20 months after having a child.

She won the New York City Marathon in November — which served as her Olympic qualifying time — but the toe injury flared again. That forced her to miss the London Marathon, where in 2003 she set the world record of 2 hours, 15 minutes, 25 seconds.