Daughter is running in Sonia’s footsteps
If her daughter follows in her famous flying footsteps, then Sonia O’Sullivan will be hoping she declares for the ol’ sod.
So says Ireland’s most decorated female track athlete, whose youngest daughter Sophie is already displaying a passion and talent for sport.
“She likes to play basketball and soccer and she loves to run races as well,” Sonia says. In fact Sophie’s already proved herself in other disciplines, having taken gold in the All-Ireland high jump in 2012. And she competes in crosscountry.
So if she turns out to be an athlete of her mother’s calibre? “I’d like if she ran for Ireland but at the end of the day, she’d have to decide for herself.
“I would definitely encourage running for Ireland because I think there are probably better opportunities here, being central to Europe and not very far from the US. The travel and logistics of being an international athlete are much better if you are Europe-based than Australia-based,” Sonia says.
Her older daughter, Ciara, 14, “isn’t too keen” on running and likes to play piano instead. But both girls do sport in school because it is compulsory.
Given rising obesity levels among kids, would it be a good idea if sport was made compulsory for schoolchildren?
“They probably should be encouraged to have more competitions between schools in Ireland,” Sonia says. “That’s what they do in Australia. They have training sessions twice a week and then on Saturdays they take part in the school sports. It’s great fun on all levels. You don’t have to be on the A team. I’ve seen all levels of kids competing in sport and they’re all encouraged to go out there and just do their best.”
So would she approve if one of her daughters chose a career in sport? “I think it’s a great career. If you think of anyone who has been at any level of being an international athlete, it’s an amazing lifestyle. You travel the world and run races and get paid for doing it. Most [international athletes] never want to stop.”
So what’s her own proudest moment as an athlete? Her various achievements all mean something different she says, whether World Champion, Olympic silver medallist, or world record breaker.
The Olympic medal is that bit special, though, she says, because you only get a shot at it every four years. “It’s one of those things that is very difficult to achieve and so many people try so hard for so many years. And the opportunity only comes around every four years. And it’s that little bit more difficult to get everything right on that one day,” she says.
Has she ever taken drugs in her career? She says no. “It’s amazing what people imagine goes on, but I’ve never seen it in my life. I don’t know how athletes fall into drug-taking.”
However, Sonia doesn't think the image of the Olympics is simply too tarnished by tales of drug-taking? “I think the improvements in drug testing have been enormous in the past few years and it has definitely eradicated a lot of drug cheats,” she says.
“There’s always going to be someone at it, so I think you just have to get on with what you are doing yourself and do the best you can in the hope that the drug testers are continually catching up with the cheats.”
Besides, race times are looking “a bit more realistic” these days, she says.
Her own favourite athlete currently is Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic, but she’s also been impressed with an athlete of her own vintage, Britain’s Jo Pavey, who, at just a month shy of her 41st birthday, and 11 months after giving birth, became the oldest female European champion in history, winning the 10,000m gold in Zurich earlier this year.
So does Sonia miss competitive running herself? “No, not really,” she says.
“I mean, I think you go through a little phase of that when you’re trying to hang on in there for an extra few years, but you pretty quickly become a bit realistic and you see where you are at, and I think when you can no longer compete, you no longer want to be out there.
“You want to be out there, at the front, and challenging for a win.”
So does running play any part in Sonia’s life now?
“I run everyday, yeah. It’s something I look forward to every day, that one hour when you can go off with your thoughts and try and work everything out and come back in a more peaceful frame of mind.”
Other than that, her life revolves around her kids, she says. So how does life in Australia compare to living in Cobh? “I’ve just sort of grown into it now,” Sonia says, “so I don’t really compare too much.”
“It’s hard for me to compare it to my time in Cobh because I was going to school whereas now it’s all about the kids going to school and looking after them and following them around.
“And the people you are in touch with all the time tend to be the parents of your children so your life revolves around the kids and school,” she says.
She still finds time to help other young Irish athletes through her Sonia Ag Rith mentoring service. Young athletes can contact her directly and she is working at putting together a more structured mentoring system involving camps for athletes to get together, and nutritionists, physiotherapists, “and all the different team members an athlete needs”.
She’s also ambassador to in a new running programme for beginners called the GloHealthFit4Life programme, which she launched in Ireland last week, beginning in her home town of Cobh.
“The main thing with the GloHealth programme is it’s really for people who are new to running,” she says. “It’s kind of running lessons to educate people on how best to make a start. Most people just probably put their shoes on and run out the door and get to the corner and don’t feel good.
“But with this programme, you go along to a group and it’s a six-week programme that varies according to your level of ability and it will be run by athletics clubs all over the country.”
The clubs have agreed to help out and encourage people to come along for the six weeks. “So hopefully people will gradually increase the amount they can run and by the end of it, feel better and enjoy it and want to continue and learn more,” Sonia says.
Even though Sonia’s schedule doesn’t sound like she has a whole lot of time on her hands, she would still like to write another book. Previous books include Running to Stand Still and Sonia: My Story.
“I definitely have a few thoughts about it,” she says. “I think that’s definitely an area where I need to put my thoughts on paper. But it’s a hard thing to do, you need to get someone to nearly pin you down.” A tough job for anyone.
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