Paula Radcliffe has said publicly that she’s disappointed that Christine Ohuruogu didn’t make more of an effort to get to one of the three missed drugs tests that resulted in her year’s ban from athletics. Christine, who won the 400m gold medal in Osaka this year, has now been cleared to compete in the Beijing Olympics in 2008, and joins Paula in the shortlist for the BBC sport’s personality of the year award.

But is Paula letting down the ‘sisterhood’ in criticising a fellow female athlete? I don’t think so. We don’t do ourselves any favours if we’re just too nice to each other. We need to be able to give and receive constructive criticism in order to develop and grow. And for some of us that’s quite difficult. My tendency is to want to keep the peace, to not upset other people, to be a doormat; I need the courage to express my opinion with grace, to challenge and confront when necessary.

Besides, Paula also said some very positive things about Christine which of course didn’t make the headlines; hints of a ‘catfight’ between two women are always going to be more newsworthy.