A one-track mind no more

Throughout a glittering career, Sonia O’Sullivan won the hearts of the nation and transcended Irish sport. Though she left athletics with far more memories than medals, the Cobh woman left it with few regrets.

Tick. When she’s down helping out at her children’s athletics club in Melbourne, only the occasional person recognises her from her past glories. Tock. She confesses that’s now her only real involvement with a sport that once consumed her every aching movement and crashed over her like a tidal wave.

Tick. Some mornings her body hurts so much from a lifetime of tortuous training that she gives the jog a miss, instead opting for a gentle cycle or a relaxing swim. Tock. When she does make it out on the roads though, she’s claims her muscles decided quite a while back that she could no longer be any faster than the rest of the social runners that are out and about.