Paula Radcliffe's Olympic preparations have been hit by a toe tendon injury that has forced her to withdraw from the Flora London Marathon. Although the world marathon record holder said the injury was "minor", the setback will ring alarm bells given her injury problems in recent years and the paucity of gold medal prospects elsewhere in British athletics.

Radcliffe had decided to forego the World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh in favour of running in London on April 13, but she sustained an injury to her right toe while altitude training in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “I am desperately disappointed that I have to pull out of this year’s race,” the three-time London Marathon winner said. “I love running in London and this race would have been the perfect test for me before the Olympic Games. But in marathon training there are no short cuts and there is simply not enough time to be in the shape I want to be in to run well in London. Now I must concentrate on being as well prepared as possible for Beijing.”

Radcliffe has made a superb comeback from almost two years out through childbirth and injury. She returned at the Great North Run last October, coming second to Kara Goucher of the USA, and then won the New York Marathon the following month. After that triumph she admitted she had made mistakes in the build-up to the Athens Olympics when she suffered a leg injury in Spain and then suffered a stomach problem as a result of medication she took. "We made a decision and got burned," she said of her choice to train on her own rather than join the GB training camp.

This year she said she would be joining the British team rather than going her own way in an effort to avoid being burnt a second time. Given that she came back last year in such indomitable style, nobody but a fool would even begin to write Radcliffe off, but any injury in Olympic year is a worry, especially to an athlete who is a conundrum in having been prone to injuries while simultaneously being as teak-tough as they come.

Dave Bedford, the Flora London Marathon race director, took the crushing news on the chin. “Of course, it is a major blow to lose Paula from this year’s race but we understand that her priority in 2008 is to be in peak condition for the Olympic Games and we wish her all the best for a speedy return to full fitness."

The injury means Radcliffe will have to alter her preparation plans and probably pick a half-marathon or 10k race in the build-up to Beijing. With a solution to the smog and pollution in Beijing still up in the air, it is clear that if Radcliffe does win gold in China and end her recurring Olympic nightmare then she is going to do it the hard way. No surprise there.