paula radcliffe is hands down the fastest female marathon runner in the world, by over three minutes! who can blame her for wanting to prove herself on the olympic stage! leave paula alone at least she finished the race like a true sportswoman.

Lee, London,

No sympathy for Paula. She defied medical experts advising her not to compete. She instead wasted taxpayer and lottery funds trying to recover in time for the Olympics. She never had a chance coming anywhere. She shouldn't have gone & now we have to read the heartbreaking saga & give her sympathy

Nick Jones, London, UK

The media coverage of this race has been nothing short of a disgrace. Once again, the heroic efforts of one of our athletes (this time, Mara Yamauchi) serves only as a footnote to the media circus that follows Radcliffe wherever she goes, and (usually) fails on the big stage.

Well done Mara!

Duncan , Warwick, UK

Martin of Manchester...i get it alright., Who else would you have picked. Paula only finished a few seconds behind her fully fit club team mate.
Their is no one else who would have run faster than her anyway, unless you have a name we dont know about?

david b, stockport, england

The life of a top class athlete (which Paula is) is like walking a tightrope. She ran 2:32 despite suffering from cramp. It's a good performance in the circumstances and has no relevance to motherhood or anything else. The only question mark is whether she can stil stand the weeks of 100+mile weeks

Dave West, Croydon,

Paula Radcliffe Should not gone to Beijing.
She was not fit enough and She new it, She is very selfish.
This place could have been taken up by someone who has worked really hard for these games, only to be dashed by someone who knew they could not perform.
Shame one you Paula!!!

Andrew, Durham,

Another Tim Henman. Loves the media's attention, flirts with the public to get sympathy, and can only win when conditions are perfect, never when it matters. Respect, yes, for those who deliver on the big stage. Kelly Holmes, Steve Redgrave, Jonathan Edwards - these are the role models.

David, HK,

I'm sorry, not even national treasures deserve respect for entering a race when they know they are insufficiently prepared. It was not a 'courageous attempt', it was self-indulgence (self-delusion if you want to be kind). The selectors should have acted to save her from the ignominy that resulted.

Myfanwy Denman-Rees, Leicester, England

Its the nature of any sport, especially in a gruelling event like the marathon, that top athletes can be plagued by injury and illness throughout their careers. Paula is no exception. Tony Khaw, I suggest her determination to finish shows she is mentally tough, if not physically so on this occasion.

steve, watford, UK,

If she had a stress fracture in her leg then she should never have gone to Beijing. Lets not get all nostalgic here and wishy washy, there were others who could have gone and yes, Paula is a great athlete. Great athletes also know when they are unfit or not up to running a marathon.

Julian Hutchings, Shanghai, China

She was not fit-and probably knew that.Why stop someone else from having a chance?
Somewhat selfish I think.
E mcD

E McDonald, dundee, UK

She should not have run. The selectors should not have picked her, they should have saved her from herself. She may well have caused great damage to her body, and may never recover. Through her selfishness she has deprived another athlete of experiencing the Olympics.

Phil Hexter, Cardiff,

To all of the people criticising Paula Radcliffe:

I'd like to see you survive just one hour of her training regimen. Just one.

John F, London,

She should just give up. She can't complete with the best, so how on earth can she be the best......

James Cole, London, UK

Would a male runner be on the end of such opprobruim ? I think not, so let's leave out the misogyny.. It's a moot point whether she should have run or not... but she earned her place. Get down on your knees and worship the stellar runs the woman has done - a wr which will stand for a decade !

mike, perth,

I think everyone is being really disrepectful, most of this country can not even get their fat backsides off their sofa let alone run a marathon... People do not understand what the Olympics spirit is all about- well done for finishing the race - bring on London 2012!

Becks, London, UK

The British team seem to have treated the Marathon as a fun run. One enters who is too unfit to finish and must have known it. Another falls over. The third stays in the pack swapping kintting patterns for all I know, whilst the winner storms away to an uncontestable and unopposed lead.

John Foster, Monmouth, Wales

To David B of Stockport; You just don't get it do you? We all agree, it is incredible that she even entered so soon after a stress fracture. And yes, she should have had a proper training routine. But she didn't. She should have more respect for her country, her sport and her fellow competitors.

Martin, Manchester, Great Britain

I bet she will be fine to run as soon as sponsorship money is offered as happened in New Nork if i remember correctly after Athens Olympics

Chris, Bristol, UK

The comparison with Murray is inappropriate. Paula is finished and should end her career now. If she doesn't the selectors should do it for her. Sentiment doesn't win at this level. Murray is young and learning all the time and has a future ahead of him in his sport.

Bella, Glasgow,

How Naive some of you are. I watched the race and considering she had a stress fracture only weeks ago it was incrediable that she even entered. For 75% of the race she was amongst the leading pack. Given a proper trainning routine she would have surely been in the medals.

david b, stockport, england

You need to have a serious six months solid trainning without injuries to succesfully compete in a marathon. She had a six week trainning propgrame with a fractured leg.
Boxers have to train 1000 minutes for each minute in the ring, it is much the ame for long distance runners.

david b, stockport, england

Chris have you ever run a marathon? no? thought not, otherwise you'd have admiration for a competitor that had the grit and determination to drag themself across the finish line in the most gruelling of sports.

Howard, Savannah,

Paula is a primadonna, it would have been better to send a fit athlete and given them the opportunity to compete at this level.

ROBERT KIRK, Ellesmere port, Cheshire

Let's stop wasting money on a never-was/never-will-be.

Chris, Ashford, Middx, England

Paula is a national treasure. I think she deserves a lot of respect for competing in and completing the race, even though she knew her level of preparation wasn't good enough.

Robin Laundon, Cambridge, UK

It's all hype, just like Andy Murray. Too many athletes let one good win get to their heads. What makes you think that by winning a Masters event or being a world record holder equals automatic gold medals? One needs to be mentally tough and I guess both are not. Pity.

Tony Khaw, Singapore, Singapore

What a ridiculous condescending ill-informed remark (neil, holland) - many female athletes have gone on to greater success after having a child. How is the fracture in her leg remotely connected to her being a mother?

sue, cambridge,

PLEASE forget Paula, concentrate on the winners and let Paula retire with a great career behind her. It is time for Britain to move on back winner and head for 2012 the self indulgent weeping will do nothing to change the fact that Paula is done.

Llyod, London,

I am shocked that people thought she had a chance of any medal! I actually had a bet that she would not finish. She made her decision to have a child and since then she is out of contention. Go home girl and bring up your child and enjoy life because your day is done..

neil, almere, holland