Sonia O’Sullivan last night admitted she knew the Chinese athletes who denied her World Championship gold in 1993 were performing “beyond human capability” but said she considered them “victims”.

You probably heard about the Chinese women last week — the runners who beat Sonia O’Sullivan out of gold medals in the World Championships held back in 1993, the ones who supposedly subsisted on turtle blood to set astonishing records in distance running.

Sonia O’Sullivan said her life would have been different if drug cheats had not robbed her of two gold medals early in her running career.

Q&A

Sonia O’Sullivan returns to the Leevale Sports today for the first time since 1987 when she was aiming to qualify for the European Junior Track and Field Championships.