Sonia O'Sullivan paid for her extraordinary decision to run both the 1500m and 3000m by finishing tailed off last in the women’s 1500m final at the World Indoor Championships in Lisbon this afternoon.
The Olympic 5000m silver medallist finished a staggering nine seconds adrift of Moroccan winner Hasna Benhassi.
O’Sullivan, who had set the pace through the opening laps, dropped out of contention with three laps remaining when she was collared by Portugal’s Carla Sacramento.
Sacramento sprinted clear but was joined by Benhassi and Romanian Beclea-Szekely.This group of three opened a sizeable gap which O’Sullivan never got on terms with.
Benhassi, the 22-year-old reigning African 800m outdoor champion, sprinted home to beat Romania's Olympic silver medallist Violetta Beclea-Szekely while Russia's Natalya Gorelova sneaked the bronze from longtime leader Carla Sacramento.
Meanwhile, Ireland’s Mark Carroll finished seventh in the final of the men’s 3000 metres.
Morocco's four-time 1500m world champion Hicham El Guerrouj regained some of his pride lost after last year's Olympic defeat by winning the gold medal.
The 26-year-old, who won the 1995 and 1997 indoor 1500m titles, came home ahead of Belgium's world cross country champion Mohammed Mourhit while Spain's Alberto Garcia took a surprise bronze.
Carroll appeared comfortable with the early pace and settled in mid division, racing on the inside line.
An injection of pace from Moroccan pacemaker Said Berioui split the field and Carroll, who had made progress to fourth with nine laps to go, drifted off the heels of the leaders and never regained his position.
Women's 1,500m final:
1. Hasna Benhassi (Morocco) 4 minutes 10.83 seconds
2. Violeta Beclea-Szekely (Romania) 4:11.17
3. Natalya Gorelova (Russia) 4:11.74
4. Carla Sacramento (Portugal) 4:11.76
5. Daniela Yordanova (Bulgaria) 4:12.79
6. Alesya Turova (Belarus) 4:13.67
7. Nuria Fernandez (Spain) 4:15.37
8. Helena Javornik (Slovenia) 4:15.76
9. Sonia O'Sullivan (Ireland) 4:19.40
Men's 3,000m final:
1. Hicham El Guerrouj (Morocco) 7 minutes 37.74 seconds
2. Mohammed Mourhit (Belgium) 7:38.94
3. Alberto Garcma (Spain) 7:39.96
4. John Mayock (Britain) 7:44.08
5. Million Wolde (Ethiopia) 7:44.54
6. Bernard Lagat (Kenya) 7:45.52
7. Mark Carroll (Ireland) 7:46.79
8. Craig Mottram (Australia) 7:48.34
9. Mohamed Khaldi (Algeria) 7:52.76
10. Paul Bitok (Kenya) 7:54.16
11. Bouabdallah Tahri (France) 7:57.84
12. Antonio Jimenez (Spain) 8:04.01
13. Said Berioui (Morocco) 8:04.38