Athletics: Radcliffe to Lose £1m on London Marathon

Paula Radcliffe will miss out on an appearance fee of £250,000 and potentially a further £1m in prize money and sponsorship bonuses after withdrawing from next month's London marathon yesterday. The reason she gave was that she had not recovered from the foot injury that prevented her from competing in the Commonwealth Games last month.

"I am really disappointed to have to miss this year's event," said the 32-year-old Bedford runner. "The Flora London is something that is extremely important to me and I have done everything possible to resolve the problem."

She suffered the injury in a freak accident in training at her high-altitude camp in Albuquerque, New Mexico, when she trod on a rock and suffered heavy bruising. At the time of her withdrawal from England's team for Melbourne her husband and agent Gary Lough claimed the problem was "not affecting her marathon preparations", but even a trip last week to consult Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt, the German sports doctor with a reputation for miracle cures, has failed to get her to the starting line.

"I have to accept that the injury needs a short period of rest and I also have to focus on moving on from this and on my future," she said.

The withdrawal of Radcliffe, winner of the London race for three of the past four years, robs the April 23 marathon of much of its glamour. David Bedford, the race director, said last night: "After she withdrew from the Commonwealth Games 10,000 metres it was always a possibility that Paula would pull out of London. To race when less than fully fit is simply not the Paula we know and could jeopardise her form for some time.

"We fully understand that this is the right decision and look forward to welcoming Paula back in the future. The Flora London Marathon will still serve up two great races on April 23 and, if anything, the women's race will be all the more intriguing now."

Since setting a world record of 2hr 15min 25sec in London in 2003 Radcliffe has been increasingly beset by injuries and illnesses. She missed the world championships in Paris later that year because of injury, and problems leading up to the Olympics in Athens in 2004 culminated in her failing to finish both the marathon and 10,000m. That she still has problems had been apparent from the fact that she was not racing and had updated her personal website only twice since the new year.

It would be premature to start reading the last rites over Radcliffe's career, and it would surprise no one if she successfully defended her European 10,000m in Gothenburg in August, but these continuing problems may be a sign that she is beginning to pay the price for the thousands of miles she has logged in training.

The London race yesterday also lost Jon Brown, Britain's leading male marathon runner. "I have been suffering from a foot problem recently which is clearing now but has left me way behind in my training preparations," said the Yorkshireman.