Hopes again rest on golden girl Sonia

THE enduring excellence of Sonia O'Sullivan is cause for celebration.

Once again an Irish athletics team faces a major championship with our best hopes of a medal invested in the slim frame of the modest athlete from Cobh.

Twelve years have passed since Sonia first registered her presence in senior international athletics by reaching the 3,000m final of the European Championships.

Twelve years of excitement, drama, joy and heartache on the world stage have helped make all of us unusually familiar with her personality.

We rejoiced when she excelled, we mourned when she agonised over her failures.

We shared her nervousness and tension on the start line, willed her onwards when she was struggling, soared exuberantly as she accelerated away from her pursuers to the finish line.

Sonia represented all our hopes, our ambitions and our dreams.

She filled us with courage and pride as she stood in line with the best in the world and carried Ireland’s green vest brilliantly to a succession of records and medal successes that made her unique.

Now, at 32 years of age and with two young daughters to care for, she again faces into the European Championships in Munich as Ireland’s top athlete, carrying with her our main hopes of a medal.

She has won gold at these championships before, most notably in 1998 when she won both the 5,000 and 10,000m in Budapest.

She will attempt this double again in Munich with the 10,000m race scheduled for this evening and the 5,000m race on Saturday’s programme.

Her competitiveness after such a long and distinguished career is her greatest achievement.

It is a glowing testimony to the strength of character within that slim frame, an endorsement of her years of training and conditioning and, of course, proof of her extraordinary talent.

Sonia is the greatest sportsperson this country has produced.

An Olympic gold medal has so far eluded her but that is the only major honour she has not won. Who will say it is too late for her to plug that bizarre gap in her glittering portfolio of achievements ?

And it is a bizarre gap because there were seasons when Sonia was, without question, the best in the world.

She won the overall Grand Prix title in 1993, won gold over 3,000m at the European Championships in Helsinki in 1994, won gold at the World Championships in Gothenburg in 1995. She was voted IAAF Woman athlete of the year and She won two golds at the Europeans in Budapest in 1998 after winning two gold at the World cross-country championships earlier in the year.

Her remarkable season in 1995 promised a glittering Olympic Games for her in Atlanta the following year but, sadly, it all ended in tears.

Her heartache was outlined grimly in the sight of Sonia abruptly turning to run off the track for the sanctuary of the dressing-room while the race was still unfolding.

Her comeback two years ago in Sydney was truly momentous. Her silver medal in the 5,000m behind the brilliant Gabriela Szabo was honourably won in one of the best races of the Games.

The diminutive Szabo, from Romania, has always inspired Sonia to produce her best.

She took enormous encouragement from her ability to run away from Szabo over 5,000m in Budapest in 1998 and her victory helped purge the upset of Atlanta two years earlier.

Their duel in Sydney was a classic and their protracted battle down the home straight for the finish line was memorable.

Sonia refused to capitulate and was beaten only by a stride as the game Szabo fought her off in a memorable contest that represented all that is good in athletics.

Regrettably not all is good in athletics and there have been too many drug offences over the years for the sport to be accepted without question nowadays. And in this environment it is impossible to predict just what track and field might have in store next.

But, given a level playing field, we can expect our golden girl from Cobh to be up there chasing the medals once again. Regardless of the result, we can reflect upon a career of unparalleled success and rejoice once again in her remarkable competitiveness.