When Paula Radcliffe was pregnant she was, naturally, excited and intrigued and slightly irritated that she was advised not to eat her favourite rare steak - but she was also convinced that not only would motherhood fail to dilute her ambition, it would turn her into a better athlete.

And now, with Isla, her daughter, almost 2, Radcliffe argues that being a parent is a bonus “in so many ways”. “With the recent injuries and the disappointment in Beijing, she helped me get over it. She puts everything into perspective. She doesn't care if Mummy failed in the Olympics. She makes me laugh which is a good distraction. And anyway, when I'm happy I run better. You have to be organised with a young child but still, I tend to think, ‘what was I doing before with all that spare time I must have had?'”

Radcliffe, 34, has always been likeable and modest but perhaps could have been accused of sounding one-dimensional, so intently did she focus on her training regime. Now, though, she sounds rounded and relaxed. The conversation is interspersed with whispers of “off you go to Daddy” and Radcliffe despairs that Isla discovered the joy of pressing the buttons in lifts this month when they were in New York, where Radcliffe won the marathon for the third time and the second as a mother.

“Isla is extremely determined and outgoing, not scared of anything,” Radcliffe said. “You have to watch her closely, she wanders off. I waited to see how long it would take her to turn round to see where we were but she didn't. She was off. When Gary [Radcliffe's husband] tells her off, she grrrs back at him and it's like a mirror image and I have to try not to laugh. She's like me in that she's strong, but she has quicker reaction skills than me so I don't know what type of sport she'll do - and I don't mind as long as she does some sport.”

Radcliffe lives in Monaco and her daughter, like her mother, is bilingual, although Radcliffe says her daughter is mixing up her French and English words. “We can understand her, but sometimes we have to guess what she is trying to say,” she said. “I don't think she is too far behind other children because of it, though.”

Radcliffe has found that fellow competitors who have children are friendlier and that the general public, especially other mums, find her less intimidating. Women will come up to her and ask for advice about whether they should run or swim during pregnancy. “It's really important to be a role model for mums,” she said. “Seeing how Isla is, I'm glad I exercised during pregnancy. There are lots of myths out there about not doing exercise but if you do it at an appropriate level to the individual, it is beneficial.

Although Radcliffe may have tried to regain full fitness too quickly after a long and difficult birth - she suffered a stress fracture to her sacrum, a pelvic bone, - she says that motherhood has, overall, improved her physically. “I'm stronger after the pregnancy and my asthma is better,” Radcliffe said.

She is having various asthma tests at present because she needs an exemption form for her inhaler and the results indicate that her need for an inhaler has been minimised.

Isla joined in with her mum as she gave a coaching session to pupils from two nearby schools in Loughborough last week. “It was good for kids to see that I'm not co-ordinated at everything and it's more rewarding working with schools now I'm a mum,” she said.

And she is thinking about her second baby, which she would like to have well before the 2012 London Games, when she will be 38 and trying to win that elusive gold in the Olympic marathon. “I'm not ready to try for another baby yet after the recent injuries but I don't want a big gap in between the two children - so we're still working on that one,” she said.

But, glowing motherhood aside, Radcliffe remains a sporting phenomenon. Lance Armstrong, the seven-times winner of the Tour de France, last week singled her and Michael Phelps out as exceptional athletes as he attempted to point out that certain individuals are capable of achieving stunning results without the assistance of drugs.

Armstrong met Radcliffe 2 years ago in New York and asked her for tips about marathon running and which shoes to wear. “It is hugely flattering to be bracketed with Michael Phelps by someone who has achieved as much as Lance,” Radcliffe said, underlining that motherhood has not dented her famous modesty.

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Motherhood and sport

- Ingrid Kristiansen famously inspires women not only to carry on with their sport but to believe that they can improve. The Norwegian won the Houston Marathon in 1983, five months after the birth of her first child.

- The only female gymnast to have competed at five Olympics is Oxana Chusovitina. Her son needed specialist care for leukaemia six years ago and so Chusovitina left Uzbekistan to live in Germany and has competed for her new country since 2006.

- The former world No 1, Lindsay Davenport was expected to call an end to her tennis career when she gave birth to her son Jagger in June last year, but the winner of three grand-slam tournaments is back on the WTA Tour.

- LaShinda Demus, the American hurdler and silver medal-winner at the 2005 World Championships in the 400 metres, gave birth to twins last June and reportedly juggles her training and motherhood to the extent that she sometimes forgets to eat.