Paula Radcliffe has confirmed that she will undergo surgery on the foot injury that ruled her out of this summer's Olympics.
Radcliffe suffered more Olympic heartbreak when she was forced to withdraw from the London Games just weeks before she was due to take part.
The 38-year-old had previously finished fifth in the 5,000m in Atlanta, fourth in the 10,000m in Sydney and crashed out of the marathon in Athens and Beijing, despite being a hot favourite.
However, despite her Olympic career now being all but over, Radcliffe is keen to get the surgery so that she can start training again.
"The joint's pretty degenerated and it's not going to recover until I get surgery on it. But I am getting surgery on it and then I will be able to run on it again," said Radcliffe.
"It's going to be a long process, but it will work out. I'm not sure when I'm having the operation, hopefully the end of this month. I need to get a bone graft and a cartilage repair done on it."
Despite her Olympic disappointments, Radcliffe still holds the world record for the marathon.
