Octagon Speakers

The world's fastest female marathoner, Paula Radcliffe is also one of Britain's most popular athletes.

Radcliffe won the World Half-Marathon Championships in both 2000 and 2001, and the 2001 World Cross Country Championship long-course run. In 2002 she placed first in eight out of nine competitions, including the Flora London Marathon and the Chicago Marathon, at which she broke the women's world record. Radcliffe continued her success in 2003, when she defended her title at the London Marathon, shaving nearly two minutes off her previous world-record score.  Radcliffe claimed back-to-back New York City Marathon titles.  In 2008, she was also given the distinct honor of being inducted as a member of the "Most Excellent Order of the British Empire".