Running: Paula Radcliffe trapped by Hong Kong typhoon

Thursday, August 07, 2008 - 07:03 PM

It seemingly never ends

After tales of emu oil, a broken femur and, most recently, a poisonous spider, the latest calamity to hit Paula Radcliffe is a No 8 storm that has left her trapped in the Team GB hotel.

Radcliffe is not alone, as the adverse weather conditions in Macau and Hong Kong have also hit the three-day eventing team, but given every day's training is vital as she races against time to be ready for the marathon, she is among the worst affected.

Radcliffe, recovering from a stress fracture to her femur, only arrived in Macau on Monday and admitted again that it was going to go down to the wire. She was keen to run outdoors to see how her left leg held up, but heavy rain today hit the region and forced Team GB to remain in the Westin Resort Hotel. "There's no transport so the athletes can't do anything," a spokesman said. "Some are in the gym at the hotel and some are using it as a rest day."

Radcliffe can ill afford any more days off. She says she will run the Olympic marathon unless her "leg breaks down", but most of her training has been done indoors, and it remains to be seen how she copes with the intensity of road work. In the past she has tried every avenue to get fit, including emu oil, but this is her greatest challenge yet.

Meanwhile, the wind speeds of 110 kilometers per hour shut down all activities at the Olympic equestrian venue in Sha Tin. Heavy rain and mist have all but obscured the skyscrapers across the harbour in central Hong Kong. People are heeding the Government warning to stay inside to avoid flying debris, while hundreds are stranded at the Hong Kong-Macau ferry terminal.

Yogi Breisner, three-day-event team manager, said: "There's nothing we can do - we knew all along that this can happen so we just have to live with it." He had been out at the racecourse at 6am today to watch team member Daisy Dick practice her dressage test when the storm signal was upgraded to 8 and the venue shut down. Breisner caught the last bus back to his hotel leaving Jenny Hall, the team vet and the grooms at the venue to oversee the horses. Breisner is hoping that the weather will have cleared in time for the team to practise their showjumping in the indoor school at Sha Tin this evening.