ATHLETICS: It seems no matter what the event there is still no arena in the world better built for sporting competition than the Stade de France.

Function follows form. Whoever wins a World Championship medal here over the next nine days of athletics won't easily forget the occasion.

So with the perfect setting, the ninth edition of the world's biannual athletics celebration opens this morning loaded with anticipation. In pre-Olympic years too these championships usually have an extra edge about them. And from an Irish point of view the attention once again falls on Sonia O'Sullivan. Rightly so.

It was 1997 in Athens when O'Sullivan last competed at this event, and crashed out badly. Since then she's had two children, won her Olympic medal, and endured the full range of emotions in maintaining her position as one of the world's best distance runners.

She'll travel over from London on Monday before contesting her 5,000 metre heats the following evening. If everything goes to plan - and her form in recent weeks suggests it can - then its back to the track next Saturday to fight for another major championship medal. She has 11 such medals in her pocket already and one more of any colour would be cherished.

But well before O'Sullivan's battle with the Africans and her oldest rival Gabriela Szabo the Stade de France will witness some of the most heated distance races of the summer.

The men's 100 metres is the most open in a long time but it's the distance runners who have set targets for Paris that bit higher. Haile Gebrselassie is talking about winning the 5,000 and 10,000 metres. The Ethiopian lost the longer distance two years ago in Edmonton and now plans to win it back by defeating his young compatriot Kenenisa Bekele, the only man to beat him over the 25 laps this year.

And to win the shorter distance Gebrselassie will have to upset Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj, and his plan to win the 1,500 and 5,000 metres. On the women's side too there is the target of another Ethiopian Berhane Adere to win a 5,000-10,000 metre double. All that should at least make for some exhaustive viewing, starting this evening with women's 10,000 metre final.

Three of the 12 Irish individual athletes are in action today, and the challenges facing them couldn't be more contrasting. Gareth Turnbull was told last night that his heats of the 1,500 metres would be run as scheduled, even if only five of the 29 athletes will be eliminated from the three heats.

Turnbull goes in heat three, which has 10 runners. Only two of those have slower times than the Belfastman but unless he actually trips and falls in the home straight it seems certain he will qualify. El Guerrouj goes in heat two, with French hope Mehdi Baala in heat one.

For Paul McKee progression from the 400 metre heats won't be as easy. He goes in the second of seven heats, with only the first three and the three fastest overall losers getting another day out. The early season form that saw McKee win the bronze medal at the World Indoor championships in Birmingham still deserts him, largely because of hamstring problems, and he knows that unless he approaches his best of 45.58 seconds his season could be over. In fact the other seven runners in the field have all run faster this season, led by the American Cavlin Harrison (44.62).

Later this evening Marie Davenport goes in the women's 10,000 metres, with one eye on the clock as much as the other 27 athletes. Davenport has a best of 31 minutes 59.29 seconds from a year ago and an improvement on that could see her finish in the top half of the field. But the Ethiopians look set for a repeat of their clean sweep of medals won in Edmonton, with either Adere or Derartu Tulu set to win gold.

By now Gillian O'Sullivan has been built up as such a genuine medal hope in tomorrow's 20km walk that anything worse than a top 10 finish would be a major disappointment. Olive Loughnane goes in the same race, only without any of the pressure and her ability for a leading finish has perhaps been overlooked.

Also in action tomorrow is Cathal Lombard in what is sure to be a classic men's 10,000 metres. Though it is his first major championships, the Cork athlete won't arrive in Paris until later this evening, just over 24 hours before his race.

The decision was made with his coach Joe Doonan, with the idea of being as fresh as possible for an attack on Mark Carroll's Irish record of 27:46.82.