Diagnosed with Asthma at 14 but Paula Radcliffe never stopped running

• Paula Radcliffe was diagnosed with Asthma when she was only 14 years old
• She always used inhalers before, and after training.
• Paula says Asthma never affected her career

British runner Paula Radcliffe knows the power of pushing boundaries even when the odds seem stacked at her.

Despite suffering from asthma since she was a little girl, she conquered athletics for decades. She made this bold decision to start running when she was only seven years old.

WHEN WAS PAULA RADCLIFFE DIAGNOSED WITH ASTHMA?

She recalls being diagnosed with Asthma when she was only 14.  She experienced shortness of breath and dizziness.  Paula took her preventer inhaler every morning before training and after training to stay afloat.

All through her school life, Paula enjoyed running and it was while at the university when she went into pro-athletics. She still loves mathematics and languages.

Hitherto, Paula remains sensitive to dust, tobacco smoke, among other air pollutants.

She says that despite having Asthma for donkey years, it never affected her career, contrary to popular opinion.

“I don’t think asthma affected my career – if anything it made me more determined to reach my potential. If you learn to manage your asthma and take the correct medication there’s no reason you shouldn’t be the best,” Asthma UK quotes her.

“As someone who has grown up with asthma, the message that Asthma + Lung UK sends out is very important to me. If I can show what it is possible for someone with asthma then hopefully I can encourage others.”

Paula Radcliffe. Photo/Sky News

IS PAULA RADCLIFFE’S DAUGHTER A RUNNER?

After six years of retirement, Paula came to the limelight after her 15-year-old daughter Isla was diagnosed with cancer.

She played mixed hockey which is her main sport.  In late November 2021, Isla’s tumour in her ovaries had decreased to the point where it could be medically removed.

After chemotherapy, a biopsy revealed that 98 percent of the cancer was eliminated.

IS PAULA RADCLIFFE THE WORLD RECORD HOLDER?

The British distance runner was integrated into an athletic family. Born on December 17, 1973, in Northwich, Cheshire, she followed her heart.

It was her great-aunt Charlotte Radcliffe’s silver medal in the 4 x 100-meter freestyle swimming relay at the 1920 Olympic Games that inspired Paula to run in the 1985 London Marathon with her father, a jogger.

At the 1992 Junior World Cross Country Championships, she became the first American woman to win the gold medal. In 1993, she finished seventh in the 3,000-meter world championships, and in 1995 and 1996, she finished fifth in the 5,000-meter world championships.

In the 5,000 meter run, Paula finished fourth in 1997. She set the pace in the 10,000 meters at the World Championships in Sevilla, Spain, two years later.

After setting an Olympic record in the 5,000 meters for Ethiopia’s Derartu Tulu, she pushed the pace again in the 10,000 meters at the 2000 Sydney Olympics but came fourth.

A year later in the half marathon, Paula won the global title, indicating that she may have a career in the longer distances of the sport.

Defending the global cross-country long course title she earned in March 2001, Radcliffe continued her dominance in early 2002.

When she competed in the 10,000 meters at the 2001 Track World Championships, she finished fourth again. She then focused on the marathon, training in the Pyrenees at a weekly mileage of 140 miles.

First marathon win came with a 2 hr 18 min 56 sec in London in April 2002. Her next big race was the Chicago Marathon, which she ran in the fall of that year.

Paula Radcliffe. Photo/Sky Sports

Her performance of 2:15:25 in the 2003 London Marathon was the fastest ever recorded by an athlete. In 2004, she was once again selected for the Olympics but was forced to withdraw due to injuries.

Despite this, she went on to win the New York City Marathon the following year and the London Marathon for the third time in 2005.

In 2007, just nine months after giving birth to her first child, she won the New York Marathon for a second time. After a stress fracture, Paula was unable to train properly and finished 23rd in the marathon at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

However, she won her third New York City Marathon just a few months later. Injuries and the birth of her second child in 2010 prevented her from competing in any further events.

She was unable to compete in the 2012 Olympics in London due to a foot ailment. She declared her retirement after the 2015 London Marathon, which she completed at 2:36:55.