Sonia says Chinese wins still a puzzle

SONIA O’Sullivan last night recalled the 1993 world championships when she was beaten by three unknown Chinese athletes in the 3000m final.

“I look back to 1993 and the Chinese and I think at the time I was so focused on what I was doing I didn’t want to be distracted by getting into a war of words about what they might be doing. Now I look back and in some ways you kind of wish you were a bit more vocal and dig in a bit more. But then again maybe I would have been kind of going down the wrong road!

“When you’re in it, it’s hard to be vocal but there were plenty of journalists and people out there who did that.

“And in a way that probably helped a lot, but it’s amazing that some of those world records still stand and no questions about it.

“Even if someone came out now and said they were cheating, it’s not really going to change anything, is it?

“It’s going to be a little story in the papers but you can never [replace] that feeling of crossing the line and winning if you don’t cross the line winning.”