On this day 12 years ago, Britain’s then-world record holder Paula Radcliffe rebounded from her Athens Olympics heartbreak to win the New York Marathon, edging out Kenyan Susan Chepkemei in a tight finish, by just four seconds.

Radcliffe was contesting her first marathon since she dropped out of the event at the Olympic Games three months earlier and also failed to finish the 10,000m there.

The 30-year-old Brit was seeking redemption and she got it. “I don’t think it was about sending out messages,”

Radcliffe said after her victory in New York. “It was about running well for me and enjoying it and just being back.”

Other memorable events to happen on this day

1993: Ayrton Senna ends his six-year association with McLaren with victory at the Australian Grand Prix, his fifth of the season and as it turned out the last of his career.

2008: Jerry Sloan becomes the first coach in NBA history to record 1,000 wins with the same club, as the Utah Jazz win 104-97 over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

2009: David Haye wins his WBA heavyweight title fight against Nikolai Valuev on points in Nuremberg.