WorldChampionships Women's 5,000m final: Here it comes, Sonia O'Sullivan in another major track final. Think Barcelona, Stuttgart, and Helsinki. Gothenburg, Atlanta, and Athens. Budapest, Sydney and Munich. Think go, go, go.
Has any story in Irish sport been told so many times? It's like the last decade has left memories of several great athletes, not just one. Now it's Paris and the World Championship 5,000 metres. And it's like nothing has changed.
Once again O'Sullivan can challenge for a medal. Her season is suddenly approaching a crescendo, her fitness and confidence and motivation all coming together at exactly the right moment. She mightn't be the invincible athlete she once was but in the world of championship finals her reputation is undiminished. Sonia still runs to win.
At aged 33 she might also have lost some of the zip in her legs that saw her totally untouchable back in 1995, but if she is in contention at the bell she still has enough zip to finish in the medals. It's what is left in the legs of those around her that will decide the colour.
Joining her on the start line this evening (5.35 Irish time) are 14 other athletes who fully deserve to be there, and at least half of whom are also thinking that they too can claim a medal. Their thinking may not be flawed. But there are only a few who can realistically contemplate gold.
Berhane Adere. Edith Masai. Gabriela Szabo. And O'Sullivan.
The fact that O'Sullivan is even in the same breath as those names at this stage of the year is something to celebrate. As the new season approached she was still on the treatment table of Ger Hartmann, still worried about the Achilles tendon injury that had wiped out almost all her winter training.
Then, as the season slipped by, her form mostly baffled, reports of her excellent training sessions quickly dismissed by her race results. The poor shows in Lausanneand Gateshead, and the nightmare in Madrid.
But distance running holds few secrets. The hard work you put in will eventually count somewhere, and so as Paris beckoned she simply eased off.
And turned the corner in one quick swoop. London, Dublin and Zurich. Then, last Tuesday, she ran 14 minutes 55.50 seconds just to qualify for the final, nine seconds faster than her previous best time this season.
What all that means is that O'Sullivan is probably in as good shape mentally and physically as at any other championship she's run. That's the good part.
The bad part is that so too are Adere and Masai, who almost certainly will lead the gold medal challenge in the Stade de France this evening. Adere has already won the gold medal for Ethiopia over the 10,000 metres and while she did look tired in qualifying on Tuesday, four days recovery should see her back to her best.
Masai has won the last two World Cross Country short course titles for Kenya, and was the coolest qualifier of all last Tuesday winning the first heat in 14:45.35. Though aged 36 she is still coming into her prime, having only resumed serious running four years ago.
And if Adere and Masai are certain to raise the greatest challenge over the last lap, China's Yingjie Sun is equally certain to take up the pace in the earlier stages. It's the only way she knows how to run, doing just that in the 10,000 metres final a week ago to create the third fastest time in history. Her only problem is she can't kick.
The general suspicion might be that O'Sullivan would prefer a slower pace, adopting the sort of sit-and-kick tactic that has served her so well in the past. Yet the quicker tempo provided by Sun could work to her advantage in that she is convinced her level of fitness is enough to carry her into new territory.
"I definitely feel that every race I'm running this summer I am getting better," she said yesterday. "And feeling better. I felt better too after Tuesday's heat so I'm definitely ready to run a good race now.
"It's great feeling too to be in the final. I feel there is no definite winner of the race. But it will be very competitive. Normally you expect to coast around in your heat but a lot of us had to run hard just to qualify.
"I would say nearly everyone on the starting line is thinking about getting into the medals. So it should really be a good race."
It's worth recalling too that O'Sullivan's best of 14:41.02 was recorded in the Olympic final in Sydney, and since then she has never truly been in the right race at the right time to go faster. A medal-winning run this evening could easily require a sub 14:40-run, but still that's well within her reach.
Szabo, of course, will be in the hunt too, even if the Romanian is not hot this week. Other likely outsiders are the Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba, the Russian Yelena Zadorozhnaya and Spain's European champion Marta Dominguez.
The greatest threat though to O'Sullivan gold medal hopes will be the two leading Africans.
The Stade de France has been bowing to African supremacy in the distance races all week, and should do so again this evening. But there are times when bronze can be worth its weight in gold.
Inside: page 10
Sonia's rivals
Men's 200m final
Day 7 results
Weekend schedule
Irish in action
