HIGHLY-paid Premiership footballers could learn something from this year’s London Marathon women’s race winner.

Jemima Sumgong tangled feet with another leading competitor at 23 miles, falling hard onto the road and cracking her head on the ground.

Rather than lie there writhing, the Kenyan athlete picked herself up, rejoined the leading pack and eventually overcame them to win. All this was after she already had a near miss with an over-enthusiastic spectator.

Now, let’s just replicate Jemima’s fall by a typical top footballer in a match. It would be unthinkable for him to just get up, shrug off the injury and continue with the game. We would need at least a routine of histrionics – probably involving prolonged facial gurning, grabbing at the “injured” area and a certain amount of rolling on the ground denoting agony. All this designed to influence both the referee and the game.

Athletes in virtually every other top sport, however, are now so focused and determined that even something like a nasty fall wouldn’t stop them.