Pregnant Radcliffe to keep competing

Athletics : World marathon champion Paula Radcliffe, who has been aiming for a return to major competition at the European championships…

Athletics: World marathon champion Paula Radcliffe, who has been aiming for a return to major competition at the European championships next month, says she is expecting a baby in January.

However, the 32-year-old vowed to continue competing.  Radcliffe has been suffering from a foot injury and has not raced since New Year's Eve, although she did not rule out competing during pregnancy.

"What has surprised me most is that people ask if I will carry on competing," she told The Times. "This is especially surprising as I have said I want to carry on until 2012."

The paper said Radcliffe, now 14 weeks pregnant, had not ruled out competing during her pregnancy and had the world championships in Osaka, Japan, in August 2007 in her sights.

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She had planned to run the 10,000 metres at the European championships in Sweden and that could still be a possibility.

However, she will almost certainly miss the year's remaining three major marathons - Berlin in September, Chicago in October and New York in November.