Athletics: Sonia sets sights on Euro team medals

SHE can’t think of a better way to end the year than a medal from European cross-country championships.

So, Sonia O’Sullivan is anxious to meet her team-mates to discuss tactics for Sunday’s showpiece in Edinburgh.

“I appreciate nothing is a certainty, but I think this team can win medals,” she said after arriving back in London from Australia.

“We will get together on Friday and discuss the situation and if we are all motivated, I feel we will get a very good result.”

She said she was looking forward to lining up alongside Catherina McKiernan again, heard Rosemary Ryan and Marie Davenport were running well, and knew Anne Keenan-Buckley would, as always, be out to run the race of her life.

“It is all very exciting and I just can’t wait,” she said. “You get the best out of yourself when you are really working well together and to win medals in a European championships would be a really good way to end the year.”

She singled out old rival Paula Radcliffe as the potential winner: “I know she was beaten recently in Japan but look at what she ran. I have never run 30:40 in my life. She ran a really good time. The only thing about it was that she did not win.”

Sonia’s form is good and she is spot-on after taking a short break.

She has already begun her Olympic build-up with what she described as a very good group of people.

“The only thing that’s different so far is that I have not done any altitude training,” she said. “But the main thing to do is to set up a system and if I get a good result off this then I know I am doing the right thing.”

And she said Sunday’s race against high quality opposition will show her exactly where she stands.

“The Olympics are always on your mind. What I did in the past five weeks is all part of the training plan that becomes a blueprint and something which I will always go back to.”

Irish team manager Patsy McGonagle was in touch with Sonia yesterday and his advice was to wrap up.

“It is very important we get everybody to the line healthy - we don’t want any colds or anything like that,” he said. “We are very limited in numbers so we can’t afford for anything like that to happen.

“As long as everybody kicks in and stays in shape I feel we will do well.”

There was bad news from the US yesterday when it emerged that Alastair Cragg will not be joining the men’s team.

“Unfortunately we will have to plan without him and that is very disappointing,” said Patsy McGonagle.

His place will be taken by Tristan Druet, the young Frenchman whose mother hails from Sligo. He was a member of the team that competed in the European Under-23 championships during the summer but this will be his first senior international.