SAN JUAN, 2 March 2004 — World record-holder Paula Radcliffe was beaten in her first race of the year when she was pipped by Kenyan-born Lornah Kiplagat of the Netherlands in a 10 kilometer road race on Sunday.
It was the 30-year-old Briton’s first race of 2004 and marked a return to the scene of a world-record performance 12 months ago.
Radcliffe finished four seconds adrift of Kiplagat — who took out Dutch citizenship last year when marrying coach Pieter Langerhorst. Kiplagat, 29 in three weeks and who ran a world best 10 miles in Zaandam two years ago, won in 30min 41sec — 20sec slower than the record Radcliffe set here last year.
Radcliffe and Kiplagat were the only two runners in contention in driving rain and high winds and they finished well clear of third-placed Constantina Tomescu-Dita of Romania who timed 32:00.
John Korir finished first in a Kenyan clean-sweep in the men’s race, winning in 27min 47sec, a second ahead of Wilson Kiprotich with the former World half marathon champion Paul Kosgei third in 28:05.
Radcliffe, competing for the first time since winning the European cross country title in Edinburgh last December, also holds the world records for 20km and the marathon.
On her last road race, in Japan last November, Radcliffe suffered the rare indignity of being overtaken as her English team finished sixth behind Ethiopia in a relay.
Radcliffe lost then to Ethiopia’s Berhane Adere and and Kenya’s Lucy Wangui, who should be her biggest rivals at 10,000m in the Athens Olympics where she is also set to run the marathon.
But Sunday’s defeat was Radcliffe’s first in an individual race for the last 30 months.
“I felt flat. I don’t like being beaten but it’s not a disaster in these conditions,” said Radcliffe, who also won this race in 2002.
“I’m not that far off what I’ve run here in the past. And Lornah ran very, very well. I’m not off course.”
Radcliffe returned to her training base in the mountains of Albuquerque, New Mexico, hoping to shake off a virus and get fully fit for the world cross-country championships in Brussels on March 20.
