Sonia O’Sullivan: Irish athletics must use momentum of underage success

HOME STRETCH: Athletics legend Sonia O’Sullivan launched the Irish Life Health ‘Runuary’ 2022 programme to encourage people to get back into the habit of running in the new year. See irishlifehealth.ie/runuary. Starting on January 1, the programme encourages participants to commit to a training plan to help reach a target distance of 5km, 5 miles, or 10 miles to be completed on January 31. Picture: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

Underage medals are one thing, but Sonia O’Sullivan knows there’s a huge chasm separating that from senior success. In the wake of a successful European Cross Country Championships in Dublin on Sunday, the question is how to ensure all that young Irish talent reaches its full potential.

“I think that’ll give people a lot of motivation,” said O’Sullivan at the launch of the Irish Life Health ‘Runuary’ 2022 programme. “It needs to be motivation for people to do something about it, to use that to continue the momentum.”