Following a report by the Sunday Times in August that revealed a database of suspicious blood tests in track and field, the four-time Olympian for Great Britain spent much of the year defending her career and records from speculation—even though she was not named in the article and she has never failed a drug test.
In January, the World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) announced that data in the leaked Sunday Times document was incomplete, and that the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) followed proper procedures in researching questionable test results.
Still, this was all amid a controversial 2015 for running, in which a state-sponsored doping program in Russia was uncovered and lead officials at the IAAF—the sport’s governing body—were found to be blackmailing athletes, allowing them to avoid testing and hide positive test results.
Before that WADA announcement, Radcliffe sat down with Runner’s World Editor-in-Chief David Willey at the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend in Orlando, where she took part in the 10K and half marathon. Radcliffe talked about how doping has hurt the sport and how she’s dealt with allegations regarding her blood samples.
Listen to highlights from the interview in the player on top of this page.