A meeting with hopes of offering up a world record over two miles and possibly one of the fastest 1,500 metres times run on Irish soil should provide Cork City Sports today with ample opportunity to gauge Irish interest in top athletics.
Sonia O'Sullivan, on her own patch, is the dominant name, even though the organisers have enticed world champion and multiple world record holder Noureddine Morceli to enliven the men's 1,500 metres. Morceli was unbeaten in the 1,500 metres and mile for four years between 1992 and 1996.
Having announced in May that she will be aiming for the world record over two miles, O'Sullivan has subsequently had mixed success in her track season. Disappointment in Paris, followed by a better showing at a meeting in Bratislava, indicated that the Cobh runner was approaching the high standards she has always set for herself, but perhaps not as quickly as she would have liked.
Still on a high after her double world cross country championship wins in March, her confidence was soaring although the third place in St Denis did little to enhance her rehabilitation back to the circuit after a troublesome 18 months.
"Over two miles you could probably go with your eyes closed and still break the record. It's something for me to think about, otherwise you just run around and it doesn't really mean anything. It's nice that the race means something," she said.
Her target is nine minutes 29.15 seconds, set by three-time world cross country champion Lynn Jennings in 1986. In truth, if the 1995 world champion over 5,000 metres runs to anything like form, she should take the American's record. A series of 71 second laps is well within her scope.
Combined with appearances from 400 metre hurdles world championship finalist Susan Smith and Australian 400 metres world champion Cathy Freeman, chairman Dick Hodgins believes the event is as strong as any seen in Cork.
"It would be the best field we've had at the Cork City Sports for a long time. We've top athletes right across the board, not just in one or two events. Jason Livingston, considered to be the next Linford Christie in the UK, will be here, and we've also the top Irish runners in Valerie Vaughan, Una English and Marie McMahon."
McMahon hopes to run a 5,000 metres qualifying time for this summer's European Championships in Budapest.
While Morceli, running for his first time in Ireland, wondered to Hodgins "whether it always rains in Dublin", on his arrival on Thursday he is clearly serious about the race.
He is accompanied by two other Algerians for the 1,500 metres, where Niall Bruton and Shane Healy will represent Ireland's best chances. The meet record of 3:35.29 is held by Kenyan John Kosgei, who is accompanied by three other compatriots, while Ireland's Marcus O'Sullivan, currently winding down his career, is also due to compete, although there has been unconfirmed talk that he may not now run.
O'Sullivan has just taken over the prestigious position of head coach at Villanova University, replacing John Marshall. O'Sullivan steps into the shadow of former coach Jumbo Elliott, who coached Olympic champion Ronnie Delany and World champion Eamon Coghlan, amongst others during his glittering tenure.
