legendary athlete Paula Radcliffe believes motivation is the biggest factor that can help or prevent an athlete from making it big on the world stage.
Six-time world champion and current women's world record holder in marathon, Radcliffe says funding and infrastructure come secondary while momentum is the perfect guiding force.
"Sure the Indian athletes need training, funding and support but you cannot buy motivation. It is the single most important factor. You cannot give money to someone who has no motivation or inclination to train and work hard. So, if you have the motivation and can get the structure going with it, it will help the athlete," she said on the sidelines of a press briefing of the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon for which she is the event ambassador.
She further stated that the sport is still in early stages in the country and expecting a lot from the athletes would be unfair. But she expects things to improve with more events coming up on the calendar. "I don't think that's (lack of motivation) the case. I think the sport is still young in the country but you have a lot of people coming in. You just need to give it time and with events such as the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon, then 10Ks and other events coming through, more people will get involved in sports.
"And then you have to allow the time for building of the infrastructure, the coaching and the support. Then in the future you can have top athletes coming through who are there somewhere but it's about finding them."
For an athlete who has set records in multiple disciplines and seen plenty of ups, there have been few downs too with Athens Olympics in 2004 being the biggest one. "As sportsperson we have to cope with ups and downs. For me, Athens Olympics was my low point. I was in great shape but because of the leg injury and the stress around it, everything contributed to me not able to finish the race. I knew it was my best chance and I was one of the favourites too."
"However, london Olympics (in 2012) was most painful. It was my home Olympics and I was looking forward to it ever since we won the bid in 2005. It was my last chance and it was very hard to come to terms with the disappointment. It also saw the end of my career," she said.
Two time World Champion and defending women's champion Florence Kiplagat has been in great form this year setting the World Record of 1:05:12 in a half marathon but she comes into the race on Sunday with an injury and little recovery time. "last year I had one day to recover after arriving late. This year I've got more days to recover especially as I picked an injury in Chicago. I'm not in a good shape but I hope to give my best. I want to finish with 69 minutes this year," said the Kenyan athlete.
The 30-year-old lucy Kabuu had won in Delhi in 2011 but finished third last year. This time she hopes to go better and stand atop the podium. "Compared to last year, this time I feel better. I hope the weather will be good on Sunday. Having Paula with us, a champion, will give us a morale boost and hope to give our best time," she said smiling with Paula sitting next to her.
Reigning world half marathon champion Gladys Cherono would aim to trump Kiplagat on Sunday having been edged out narrowly last year on the same course.