Sonia in no hurry to decide on her future

SONIA O'SULLIVAN will not make any decision on her athletics future until later this year, the Cobh athlete revealed yesterday.

The Irish athlete was emotionally drained on Monday night after finishing last in the 5,000m Olympic Final in Athens. But she stressed yesterday that she has no plans to retire from the track, just yet.

"It's too soon for me to make any major decisions like that," she said.

"I must have a goal. I have to sit down and decide what's next. I have the girls here with me and we have to find a few activities to keep them amused so that keeps me occupied as well. They demand your attention no matter what. But I wouldn't be rushing into anything."

Of more immediate concern to O'Sullivan was the cause of an illness which had caused her some suffering in the 48 hours prior to racetime. She was set to meet with the OCI chief medical officer Dr Sean Gaine last night.

"I was feeling a bit sick for the past two days," she admitted. "I don't know to what extent but it was something I thought was a simple thing but obviously was not the case. Before I do anything I just want to make sure I am OK.

"There is no point in me going out there and killing myself if there is someone here to check me out first and make sure that I am ready to do that."

Her father, John, who has been by her side from her first major championship appearance, at the Europeans in Split in 1990, applauded his daughter for competing on Monday night.

"She obviously had some sort of bug and it was a brave decision on her part to go out there and compete in an Olympic final," he said.

"When you go into an Olympic final, you have to be on top of your form and it was quite obvious beforehand and then during the race that Sonia was not.

"She could have taken the easy option and dropped out of the race but she felt she owed it to the fans and to her country to see it out.

"She saw it as an opportunity to thank the fans and the people back home for their support over the years and to bid farewell to the Olympics as this was probably her final Olympic appearance.

"But that's not saying she is going to retire or anything like that. I don't think Sonia would want to go out on the back of a performance like that.

"Anyway, this is not the time to make any major decisions. You can imagine it is a very emotional time for her and for those around her."

Those sentiments were echoed back home in Cobh by her former coach, Sean Kennedy, who guided her from the time she joined Ballymore/Cobh Athletic Club as a youngster up to and including her first Olympic final in Barcelona in 1992.

"I would not dream of making any suggestions and I don't think anyone else would either," he said. "I know Sonia well enough to know that she will decide what to do herself and when to do it.

"But I think it should be remembered, she does not owe us anything. In fact she had done Ireland proud over the years.

"Not alone is she the best athlete this country ever produced but she was, for a number of years, the best athlete in the world and, for my part, I am very proud to have been able to help her out in some small way.

"I think everyone remembers 1993 and how she won worldwide respect in defeat at the hands of the Chinese women at the world championships in Stuttgart. She bounced back and moved forward.

"The next year she was European champion and she went on to win a world title on the track, two more European track titles, back-to-back world cross-country titles and then, of course, her Olympic medal in Sydney ­ something we will never forget.

"No other athlete in history has done that and I think we should realise just what a treasure we have in Sonia O'Sullivan.

"From that point of view it was sad to watch her in the Olympic final on Monday night. I knew something had to be wrong with her but she still battled ­ as I knew she would ­ and used the race to pay her own special tribute to the fans in the stadium.

"But it was very brave on her part to continue on there. And when you look at it: Joanne Pavey finished fifth in the race and just a few weeks ago she beat her out of sight in Zurich.

"I think Sonia will go away and think about this ­ I would hope she will ­ and when she is OK again and healthy she will then decide what is best for herself and her family.

"Knowing Sonia, I don't think she will need advice from anyone."