Wami rues Radcliffe's absence from London Marathon

Gete Wami insists she is disappointed that Paula Radcliffe has pulled out of Sunday's London Marathon even though it boosts her title chances.

Radcliffe misses out on the chance to win a fourth London title because of a toe problem, leaving Wami as the favourite to take the crown in the city.

But the Ethopian runner, who finished second in London last year, believes their rivalry is a useful tool because it drives her to greater performances.

After a decade going head to head in cross country races and last November in the New York marathon, Wami has begun to thrive on their memorable confrontations.

"I hoped she would be here as we always have exciting races and it would have been a much better race with her competing," Wami said.

The pair last clashed in New York when Radcliffe pulled away in the final 400 metres to prevent Wami adding to her victory in Berlin.

Despite the defeat, Wami still had plenty to celebrate, becoming the first female champion of the inaugural World Marathon Majors (WMM) title and picking up a cheque for 500,000 dollars.

Wami, 33, is determined to continue her domination of the current WMM series, where she sits at the top of the leaderboard with a score of 55 points.

That tally gives her a healthy lead of 15 points ahead of China's Zhou Chunxiu, last year's London champion, with Lidia Grigoryeva of Russia third a further 10 behind.

The absence of Radcliffe in London, where she would have started favourite, will boost Wami's chances of scoring another maximum 25 points.

And she is well aware a first victory in her third London appearance will set her up nicely before the present WMM series concludes again in New York this November.

The former world 10,000m champion is adamant there is no room for allowing the complacency that hampered her last April to repeat itself.

"I didn't know who she was, which was a mistake," admitted Wami, after allowing Zhou to get clear in the last three miles and failing to cover the speedy breakaway.

Wami insisted: "I've done my homework on everybody for this year's race and I've now run a few marathons but there is always something new to learn from each one."

Her fellow Ethiopian Berhane Adere, the Russian pair of Svetlana Zakharova and Ludmila Petrova, Constantina Dita from Romania and Kenyan Salina Kosgei are all forecast to be serious title contenders.