Getting more time to enjoy the moment

ATHLETICS:One of the benefits of the time difference is that I get to work long into the night, still ruminating on events I would normally have to cover in an instant.

THEY TURNED off the lights inside the Bird's Nest at exactly midnight, leaving the Olympic flame burning brilliantly in the warm Beijing night. Later again, as I made my way back to the Main Press Centre, a sizable crowd was still gathered around outside, still taking pictures of China's most fashionable icon and soaking up the last of the atmosphere.

One of the benefits of the time difference between Beijing and home is that I get to work long into the night out here, still ruminating on events I would normally have to cover in an instant. Such as the women's 10,000 metres; a race which really needs to be witnessed up close and personal to be fully appreciated.

I was able to sit back and enjoy all 25 laps with Frank Greally of Irish Runnermagazine, who had arrived in Beijing just a few hours previously, yet buoyant with enthusiasm for an event he has long appreciated. I don't know what age Greally is now, but I do know he still holds the Irish junior record for 10,000 metres.

"That was unbelievable running," he said, before humbly admitting they'd run maybe 30 seconds quicker than his men's junior record.

It certainly was unbelievable, in the original meaning of the word. Tirunesh Dibaba had won the Olympic gold medal for Ethiopia by running the second fastest women's 10,000 metres of all time, and depending on what you actually do believe in, more likely the fastest. Her time of 29:54.66 was only ever bettered by a certain Wang Junxia of China, the leader of the notorious Ma Junren's army, and who ran 29:31.78 somewhere else in Beijing in 1993.

In other words, Dibaba's performance is effectively unprecedented in women's distance running - given before last night, the second-fastest women's 10,000 metres of all time was the 30:01.09 that Paula Radcliffe ran to win the European championships in Munich in 2002. What we witnessed last night, at least in my eyes, was the first sub-30 minute 10k run by a woman. For Elvan Abeylegesse, also Ethiopian-born and who now runs for Turkey, the 29:56.34 she produced to win silver was virtually as impressive. Though impossibly small and light, Abeylegesse had in fact pressed the pace over the final nine laps, and very nearly caused a considerable upset.

In the end, the only difference was Dibaba's desire for victory, and her apparently unlimited finishing speed. "That's not a result of training," she later noted, "but part of our nature." Behind those two, there was another fascinating race for the bronze medal. Lornah Kiplagat, the Dutch runner who was raised and still lives in Kenya, set the pace through 6,000 metres but later paid for it, and ended up eighth. In contrast, running smartly and confidently throughout was Shalane Flanagan, who was rewarded for her patience with the bronze medal in an American record of 30:22.22. Flanagan, for sure, will cherish her bronze medal as much as Dibaba will her gold. It proves once again that Olympic medals don't always go to the fastest, but to the smartest.

In many ways, this 10,000 metres was reminiscent of Athens four years ago, and also Sydney four years before that. I can still recall how, in Athens, the Ethiopian Worknesh Kidane led for much of the closing stages, only to end up fourth. Few people will need reminding of what happened in Sydney, when Radcliffe led for 20 of the 25 laps, and also ended up fourth.

It was said after that race that Radcliffe deserved not just one medal, but all three. Fewer people still will need reminding of what happened to Radcliffe in Athens, when she went into the Olympic marathon almost five minutes quicker than the rest of the field, and failed to finish.

Early tomorrow morning, Radcliffe will make what is likely to be a last effort for that strangely elusive Olympic medal. That she's making it at all has involved possibly the most courageous effort of any athlete in Beijing. Exactly a month ago, I got a text message from Ger Hartmann, her Limerick-based physio, to say he reckoned Radcliffe had about a 50 to 1 chance of making the start line for the Olympic marathon. In the meantime, he was trying to keep her positive:

Text message from Ger Hartmann to Paula Radcliffe: 15-07-2008. 22:10.38 - "Paula. i have great respect 4 the course n process u are going through. Nobody in the world would have trained as hard as u have. Armstrong walked on the moon because he dared to go where no man had ever gone before. u are going into unknown territory but u will only know your fate if u go through the cogs n live the process day by day n explore where it leads u 2. Stay positive n focused n le providence play its part. g"

The stress fracture in Radcliffe's femur had originally required 12 weeks rest, but she forced the recovery process to the point where she was back running after eight weeks.

Text message from Paula Radcliffe to Ger Hartmann: 27-07-2008. 13:11.20 - "Ger. Did 17 min outside yesterday. Good. Then today 24 mile on treadmill at 94 per cent in 2hr 17 with 2% gradient in hot and humid so happy with that. Biggest problem blisters!"

Earlier yesterday, I got one final text message which made it clear Radcliffe and Hartmann had done their all and that now it was up to destiny.

Text message from Ger Hartmann to Ian O'Riordan: 15-08-2008. 06:45.03 - "iano, there is no going back now 4 Paula. the significant factor is that she is totally blinkered n in almost a surreal zone. there is no doubt in her mind nor any hint of what if? she is akin 2 a veteran soldier going 2 war 4 the fourth time n having confidence n resolve knowing whatever the consequences she wants 2 b in the thick of it n while she knows it is stacked with grenades she is willing 2 pit herself against fellow competitors n elements 2 determine her Olympic fate. 5th 4th DNF What now? she will intrigue us n have us near nervous wrecks as we run every step of the way willing her on. g"

I'll be up early tomorrow to watch all 26.2 miles of the women's marathon, when they'll gather at 7.30 in Tiananmen Square and wind their way up to the Bird's Nest, because I have the feeling it will be something to ruminate on for a long time afterwards.