O'Sullivan 'not giving up track'

Sonia O’Sullivan has dismissed suggestions that she is giving up track competition, insisting next year and in 2004 she will be challenging for more honours at the world championships and then the Olympic Games in Athens.

O’Sullivan deservedly earned the world 10-miles record with a sensational performance to win the BUPA Great South Run in exactly 51 minutes.

She has much to crow about in the past decade, having captured world and European gold medals on the track, and only two years ago losing the Olympic 5000metres title by a stride.

The woman who stunned her rivals four years ago by winning both the IAAF world cross country long and short course races now looks set for a new-found road-running career at the age of 32.

Her exuberant morning run around the streets of Portsmouth yesterday, when slicing 16 seconds off the former best Colleen de Reuck achieved in Washington DC during 1998 clearly indicated O’Sullivan’s cross-country prowess can now extend to the lucrative road-running circuit.

Yesterday, nine months after giving birth to second daughter Sophie, European 5000m and 10,000m silver medallist O’Sullivan insisted 2002 has been a year of consolidation.

A month ago, she quit the track for the season to concentrate on road racing and, although she once again denied it after her victory yesterday, O’Sullivan is still being tipped to run the New York Marathon on November 3.

One thing is for certain, though – O’Sullivan is blooming in her new enterprise.

The south-coast race saw the Cobh runner triumph by almost two minutes from Commonwealth 10,000m bronze medallist Susie Power (52:52) and another top Australian Natalie Harvey, who clocked 54 minutes dead.

O’Sullivan refuses to speak about an autumn marathon, but she did admit: “Of course the win and the time has told me a lot.

“I’ve now got a fast 10 miles time in and I’ll be aiming to run under 70 minutes for a half marathon in next month’s Great North Run.

“That will tell me even a lot more about my shape.”

It could also see her announce her participation to run New York.

In the huge mixed field, O’Sullivan finished 12th overall, while Kenyan Simon Kisamili won his second Great South Run title in four years by two seconds ahead of Swindon’s Matt O’Dowd and Bristol’s Ben Noad.

The Kenyan is donating his prize money to his father, who recently had a leg amputated. He clocked 47:27, O’Dowd ran a personal best, and Noad ran 48:10.