• Bupa London 10,000

Radcliffe beaten by Pavey on return to action

Jo Pavey had never previously beaten Paula Radcliffe © Getty Images

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Paula Radcliffe made her first competitive return to action in 18 months at the Bupa London 10,000 on Monday, finishing third behind Jo Pavey.

Radcliffe has had time out of the sport to give birth to her second child, and to recover from a bout of bronchitis. However, she remains the marathon world record-holder and a genuine gold medal hope for Britain at London 2012.

Her return was certainly a strenuous test on the body, with Radcliffe choosing to allow Pavey to set the pace, before toiling in her efforts to stay with her compatriot. Pavey eventually came home in a time of 32.23 for her first win over Radcliffe.

Radcliffe recorded a time of 33.19, representing her first loss to a British women in three years. Gemma Steel completed the top three.

"For me it was a bit of a disaster," said a visibly upset Radcliffe. "It's really frustrating as I've been training hard since January so I should be in so much better shape.

"It's hard to keep chugging away training when you come out and run so badly. At 4km I just started to go backwards. I've got a tear in one of the discs in my back which has meant I can't go on the track, but I thought I was going to be fine on the road.

"It's sciatic pain and I just lose power in my legs. But I don't want to make excuses, I thought it was going to be better than that."

In the men's race, Mo Farah defended his title with a time of 29.15. Farah adds the London 10,000 to the New York Half Marathon, the European indoor 3000m title, the Bupa Great Edinburgh Cross, and the 5000m at the Aviva Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix.

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