Radcliffe* sorry typo'd the thread title. * embarrassed*
Its good that they gave her the WR back, but the rule is still in place and i dont agree with it at all, why can men draft, but not women? you still have to physically run it at that speed, give me pacemakers all day long and i'm still not gonna go faster than my body allows.
thoughts?
http://www.athleticsweekly.com/news/radcliffe-to-keep-record-but-new-pacemaking-rule-will-stand/
Comments
Either way glad Paula's got her record back.
The rule change going forward means it is even more likely that it will remain the record for a long, long time to come.
If ever an athlete deserves a time to stand in history it is Paula.
Nice one!
Having said that PR set the record according to the rules as they were at the time so she deserves to keep it - but they should also recognise the unpaced WR alongside it.
If they do allow pacemakers then I can't see why men shouldn't pace women - I take the point that a man can't pace a man the whole distance but the strength in depth there means they can pace them a good part of it - unlike the women where very few could get to say 20 miles at world record pace - and those that could are unlikely to want to be a pacemaker.
The argument made in 2003 was that the men running with Paula weren't pacemakers but it was part of a mixed race. Whatever the truth of that, it was accepted as not pacemaking, but like mixed races such as Chicago.
The ruling goes further in that it outlaws times set by women in mixed races too.