O’Sullivan prepares for 10k with eye on Athens
Her partner, Nic Bideau, is the first to admit that she is a different athlete once she pulls on an Irish vest. “Look at Sydney Olympics - she set two Irish records as well as winning a silver medal in an Irish vest,” he said.
“And she has won three European titles, a world track title, two world cross-country titles, silver medals at both the European and world track championships and team medals at the world and European cross-country championships. When she pulls on an Irish vest she normally comes away with something.”
Part of the Olympic plan is the Manchester race. “It is going to be a good race. She ran well in Balmoral and she has done nothing wrong since. She is in good shape,” he said.
“She is going to run well but she has a long way to go yet and the field will be very strong. Berhane Adere will be difficult to beat again and Margaret Okayo, the London Marathon winner, is in the field so it will be tough.
He said they were pretty excited about the 5,000m she won at the track meet in Stanford a few weeks ago.
“It was her fastest ever start to the season,” he said. “And it was a good race. She went straight to the front behind the pacemaker - who went out too fast - and when the pacemaker dropped out she had a 30 metre gap and it stayed that way. She won and was always going to break 15 minutes.
“She is planning her season quietly. She will not run another 5,000m until the BUPA Cork City Sports on July 3 and will be concentrating on getting stronger and faster.
“She plans to run some 1,500m and 3,000m races and a Grand Prix race somewhere in Europe but Grand Prix racing is different from the Olympics. There will be no pacemakers in the Olympics.
“She will work everything out after the meeting in Cork when it will be getting pretty close to the Olympics.”
Cathal Lombard will make his first public appearance since his 27:33.53 national record run in Stanford when he lines up for the men’s race in Manchester which will feature Kenya’s world record holder, Paul Tergat.
“I should be reasonably competitive but I won’t be in 27:33 type of form,” Lombard admitted. “The standard is high and the race will put a bit of sharpness back. I had a bit of time to recover from the Stanford race and am back in hard training. A race like this keeps my mind on the task in hand.”
He will not return to the track until next month when he will represent Ireland in either the 3,000m or the 5,000m at the European Cup match. He then runs a 3,000m at the Grand Prix in Gateshead on June 27.
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