O’Sullivan gets ready to run for Australia

SONIA O’SULLIVAN will receive Australian nationality at a ceremony in Melbourne today and she confirmed she now wants to compete for her new country at the Commonwealth Games in March.

The former Olympic 5,000 metres silver medallist plans to bid for a team place over that distance by contesting the Australian trials, which take place in just over a fortnight.

“I have finally got my nationality sorted out but I will not really believe it until I’ve got the certificate in my hand,” O’Sullivan said.

O’Sullivan, who has two young children and lives in a second home in Melbourne with partner Nic Bideau - also her manager - was delighted she has made a dream come true.

She said: “I am Irish and they don’t come and compete in the Commonwealth Games but with dual nationality I can now do so.”

But she insisted: “No matter what championship it might be, I would never compete against Ireland. That is the country where I was born and bred. But this is an exception.

“I plan running for them (Ireland) at the European Championships in the summer,” added the 1998 European champion over both 5,000 and 10,000 metres.

Now O’Sullivan is looking forward to swearing allegiance to Australia and receiving her official papers at a public ceremony in Melbourne.

Then she plans to continue Commonwealth Games preparations as the track and field programme will take place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground from March 19-26.

“I’ve just come back from altitude training at Falls Creek and it went really well,” said the 36-year-old Cobh star.

“I’m feeling fit and strong and now I need a couple of good track sessions before the trials. There’s some good young Australians running down here and I’m taking them very seriously.”

Meanwhile Ireland’s longest running sports partnership - the Nestle Ireland’s sponsorship of the Irish Schools Athletic Association (ISAA) programme - was reinforced yesterday when the Olympic Council of Ireland President Pat Hickey presented the cheques for 2006 to ISAA President Michael Hunt at a ceremony in Buswell’s Hotel in Dublin.

The sponsorship covers all provincial championships - cross-country and track and field - as well as the Tailteann Inter-Provincial match.

25,000 athletes from 850 post-primary schools will participate.

This year marks the 44th year Nestlé has sponsored Irish schools’ athletics.

Pat Hickey said the ISAA played an important part in encouraging the development of Ireland’s budding athletes.

“It is extremely important to foster the development of our young athletes at schools level as this is the starting point for many talented Irish athletes. The Irish Schools’ Athletics Association provides an integral training ground for the future stars of Irish athletics,” he said.

“The support received through this sponsorship is invaluable to continued success.”