Paula Radcliffe insists she never cheated in athletics career

A "devastated" Paula Radcliffe has insisted she has never cheated "in any form whatsoever at any time in my career", following a British parliamentary select committee hearing into doping allegations she claimed forced her to speak out.

The marathon world record holder, one of Britain’s best-loved athletes who retired from competition this year because of injury, had not been named in connection with the recent spate of allegations regarding blood doping that have engulfed the sport.

Implicated

But after Jesse Norman, the Tory MP who chairs the culture, media and sport select committee, asked questions that appeared to suggest a British winner of the London Marathon was "potentially" implicated, Radcliffe said she had no choice but to speak out in order to clear her name.

“These accusations threaten to undermine all I have stood and competed for, as well as my hard-earned reputation.

“By linking me to allegations of cheating, damage done to my name and reputation can never be fully repaired, no matter how untrue I know them to be,” said Radcliffe, whose 2003 marathon world record of 2:15.25 in London remains almost three minutes faster than any other woman in history.

Reputation

“It is profoundly disappointing that the cloak of parliamentary privilege has been used to effectively implicate me, tarnishing my reputation, with full knowledge that I have no recourse against anyone for repeating what has been said at the committee hearing.”

Radcliffe’s name had been in circulation since December last year, when a leaked list of athletes with suspicious blood values began to circulate having featured in German broadcaster ARD’s documentary into systemic doping in Russia.

Interest was raised when a larger leak of 12,000 blood tests from 5,000 athletes was used by the Sunday Times and ARD as the basis for claims in August this year. Guardian Service