Pavey's Olympic performance made her the fourth fastest British woman of all time over 5000 m at the time, and she entered the 2001 season with the aim of rivalling the national record. She spent the winter doing warm weather training in South Africa. Having trained for only half an hour a day during much of the 2000 season due to injury worries, Pavey gradually built up her training. However, a shin injury meant she missed the first month of her season. Her first race of the year was the 3,000 m in a meeting at Lausanne, in which she finished seventh. Two weeks later she won the British 5,000 m title, and in doing so gained selection for the World Championships in Edmonton.