http://sport.guardian.co.uk/athletics/story/0,10082,1460201,00.html
Duncan Mackay Friday April 15, 2005 The Guardian Susan Chepkemei believes the experience of coming close to beating Paula Radcliffe in the New York City marathon last November will help her finally shake off her reputation as someone who is always close but rarely wins the big races. The 29-year-old Kenyan is expected to be one of Radcliffe's closest challengers in the London marathon on Sunday and has drawn encouragement from New York, where she was beaten by only four seconds after being dropped in the final 200 metres of the 26.2-mile race. "I thought I could have done much better if I'd not stayed behind Paula," said Chepkemei. "Sometimes the body will not accept what you are trying to do. I've competed in a lot of marathons and never been as close to Paula as I was in New York. It gave me a lot of motivation to think that I could beat her." New York was one of three occasions Chepkemei has finished second in a major city marathon. She also has three silver medals from the world half-marathon championships and one from the 10,000 metres at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester. Chepkemei also finished fifth and fourth respectively when Radcliffe won the London marathon in 2002 and 2003. "I've never won the London marathon before and would like to think I will do it one day," said Chepkemei. "Hopefully, that will be on Sunday. The field is very strong and any one of them can rise to the great challenge. In New York no one knew it would be me who would come closest to Paula. Perhaps it will be me again. "I recovered very quickly [after New York] because I was very excited about the result. I'm very confident. I've trained very well and I've been doing a lot more speed work. I did not have enough at the finish in New York." Another threat to Radcliffe could be Ireland's Sonia O'Sullivan, the 2000 Olympic 5,000m silver medallist. She still has to translate that potential to the marathon, having finished 12th in New York three years ago, the last occasion she ran the distance. "I feel like it is all new to me," said the 35-year-old O'Sullivan. "I had no plans beyond London and this will be a defining chapter." She does, however, hope to compete in the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne next March after her decision to take Australian citizenship. ENDS
