ATHLETICS: Just when it seemed there was nothing left to say about Sonia O'Sullivan this season she goes out and finishes fourth in the World Half Marathon. A fine result at the best of times, it comes just six weeks after the Athens Olympics looked to have finished her, and was also her second race over the 13.1-mile distance in seven days. Typical of O'Sullivan.
The decision to run in New Delhi was made only last Tuesday, two days after O'Sullivan placed sixth in the Great North Run. Clearly, racing so soon again over the distance didn't help her chances, although the truth is neither she nor anyone else could have stopped yesterday's winner - the unmistakable Sun Yingjie of China.
Known for her ridiculously low arm action, as if carrying two heavy buckets of water, Sun ran the perfect race. Shortly before 10 miles she made the decisive break, surging farther ahead over the closing miles to finish in a Chinese record of 68 minutes and 40 seconds. The $30,000 prize was ideally timed for her 27th birthday.
For O'Sullivan even the bronze medal soon seemed out of reach. Not long after the three-mile mark she fell away from the leaders, just as Kenya's Lydia Cheromei started pounding the pace. By six miles O'Sullivan was almost a minute down, lying in seventh as one of a chasing trio.
Neither Sun nor Cheromei ever looked like slowing, but having moved into fourth at 10 miles, O'Sullivan chased on. In the end though she was 86 seconds away from third, finishing in 1:10:33.
The bronze medal deservedly went to Constantina Tomescu of Romania (1:09:07), with Cheromei holding on for silver - 20 seconds behind Sun.
It was the Chinese athlete's first world title, following her sixth-place finish in the Olympic 10,000 metres.
O'Sullivan revealed afterwards the relentless pace from the gun had caused problems: "It was tough from start to finish, and the pace made me feel horrible. But that's what you expect at this level of competition.
"But I did the best I could and, yes, I'm happy enough. To finish fourth at this level I can rate as an achievement. There is no such thing as an easy championship race, and certainly this wasn't."
Stifling weather was expected to be a major factor, but a heavy thunderstorm on Saturday night cleared the air, the temperatures staying around 25 degrees.
Around 40,000 spectators had filled the Nehru Stadium (still a drop in New Delhi's population of 11 million) for the start and finish of what was the first IAAF World Series event staged in India. Kenya's Paul Kirui won the men's title in 1:02:15.
So although she turns 35 next month O'Sullivan continues to press on regardless of her crushing experience at the Olympics. Her performances in recent weeks also suggest she suffered a far more debilitating illness in Athens than initially indicated.
And the fact is she left some world-class athletes in her wake yesterday, including all three Ethiopians, the top Japanese athlete Yuki Saito (fifth in 1:11:05) and three Russians.
In the meantime it appears highly unlikely O'Sullivan will attempt a full marathon in the near future, even if New York on November 7th has been rumoured. Instead she has hinted at the European Cross Country championships, in Heringsdorf, Germany, on December 12th.
