Not long after sunrise in Athens she'll take a short run around the Olympic Village, listen once more to the voice insider her, and make the decision. Only then will we know if Paula Radcliffe may yet find a place in Olympic history.

Clearly though, Radcliffe will have her reasons for running this evening's 10,000 metres final (7.50 Irish time). The chance to find some redemption after last Sunday's marathon, the chance to prove her critics wrong and to write the most uplifting story of the entire Athens Olympics.

Last night then it was a case of will she, won't she. The evidence suggests she will. When she dropped out four miles from the end of the marathon it seemed she would need months rather than days to recover - but apparently she has recovered.

"It's now up to her whether she runs, but she does have the opportunity to pull out at any time before the race," said Max Jones of British athletics.

"I don't know what her intentions are, except that the decision will be hers and no one else's. But Paula trained twice on Wednesday and she'll know better than anyone what kind of state she is in."

Yet opinions remain split on what Radcliffe should or shouldn't do.

Gerard Hartmann, her massage therapist, said yesterday that he didn't think she should run - but that knowing Radcliffe the way he knows her she probably would run.

Last Monday, still in tears after the traumas of the marathon, she hinted she would return to the track: "I desperately want to get out and redeem something, but I'm not going to put myself in the arena if I'm not right. Part of me wants to do it, but part of me does not want to put myself through it again."

At 30, Radcliffe can feel there is another Olympics left in her career. But that means another four-year wait, when there is still a chance staring her in the face. Her 30:17.15 run in Gateshead last June remains the quickest in the world this year.

It will mean facing some of the old adversaries of Sydney - where Radcliffe finished fourth - including the defending champion, Derartu Tulu of Ethiopia, and the 35 year-old bronze medallist Fernanda Ribeiro of Portugal.

For Britain's other leading female athlete, Kelly Holmes, these are fast turning into the Olympics made in heaven.

Fresh from winning the 800 metres title on Monday - improving on the bronze from Sydney - the 34-year-old Holmes has now cruised through both her heat and semi-final of the 1,500 metres. She'll start Saturday's final as the clear favourite.

Last night she was typically cool and cocky, sitting at the back of the field before breezing up to the leaders on the last lap. She finished second to the Russian Natalya Yevdokimova, but while the rest of the field caught their breath, Holmes jogged straight up the exit ramp to chat to the BBC's Sally Gunnell - not a bead of sweat in sight.

The young Turk Elvan Abeylegesse found qualifying a little more taxing, but still has the fastest time in the world this year (3:58.28).