THE road to Atlanta takes a significant turn for Sonia O'Sullivan this evening when she takes on a respectable 5,000 metres field in the Golden Gala meeting in Rome. It will be O'Sullivan's first European race of the season and her first outing over the distance which brought her a world championship last summer.

She arrives here in fine fettle, having recently switched her centre of operations from her home in Philadelphia to the familiar track and parklands in Teddington just outside London.

Her two races in the US before crossing the Atlantic served as ideal preparation and represented perfect stepping stones for the full-blooded European season. She ran 4:06:99 to win a low-key 1,500 metres race at Princeton three weeks ago, and last weekend turned in the fastest 3,000 metre time of the year in Eugene, Oregon, winning in 8:39:33.

Tonight's race has an obvious significance for O'Sullivan beyond the chase for yet another medal.

"The Olympics are quite early in the summer this season so most of the big races up till then will be very psychological. You have to let people know that you are confident and in good shape. At this time of year everyone is looking at times and comparing. I have been dying to get out and set a good time."

In that regard, the targets for O'Sullivan are shifting all the time. Up until Monday night the fastest 5,000 of the year was held by Wang Junxia, who ran 14:51:87 in Nanching in early May.

As if that ghost weren't sufficient to haunt O'Sullivan, the wraith-like figure of Catherina McKiernan from Cavan was seen crossing the line in second place in the fastest 5,0 00 metre race of the year on Monday night in St Denis, France.

McKiernan trailed home five seconds behind Ethiopian Olympic champion Derartu Tulu, who ran 14:50:88. That time is well outside O'Sullivan's personal best of 14:41:30 and the Cobh women is on the record as saying that, given a fast race, she feels that Fernanda Ribeiro's year-old 5,000 metres record could be on the line this year.

That race is unlikely to be tonight in Rome, however. Ribeiro, having opted to concentrate on the 10,000 metres in Atlanta, is elsewhere, and the principle challenge to O'Sullivan comes from Kenya's Rose Cheruiyot and the Ethiopian Gete Wami, who have both run under 15 minutes in the past fortnight.

"It has been frustrating looking at everybody setting good times and sticking with my own schedule," said O'Sullivan "but the season has started properly now and I can concentrate on my own targets."

Other Irish interest tonight centres on Niall Bruton, who goes in the 1,500 metres. Bruton has become accustomed to the sight of the world champion and record holder, Nourreddine Morceli, crossing the finish line in front of him over the past 12 months. Nevertheless, his season shows signs of picking up.

After an off season devoted to improving his strength, Bruton felt heavy and unaccountably off form in Atlanta last month, but he improved considerably for a fourth place in Lille two weeks ago.

Tonight he hopes to copperfasten that rate of improvement with a top three placing. Morceli - again paced for the opening 800 metres or so by his younger brother Ali - is unlikely to see his long unbeaten record taken from him.

Morceli's blistering start to the season continued on Monday night in St Denis when he ran 3:32:44, just outside his season's best of 3:32:05.

Also looking for encouragement, if not a medal, tonight is Sinead Delahunty, the Kilkenny runner, now based in Brighton, Massachusetts, who runs in a 1,500 metres field studded with several big names.

Delahunty, who has spent time this spring down in the Florida clinic of physio Ger Hartmann, hopes to build on a tentative and confidence-sapping world championship performance in Gothenburg last year when she was eliminated at the heats stage of the 5,000 metres. Delahunty will be looking for a solid run tonight to establish herself for her goal of a final placing in the 5,000 in Atlanta this summer.

Meanwhile, Linford Christie continued with his increasingly tedious game of "call my bluff" concerning his intentions later in the summer. Having for some time now steadfastly refused to confirm that he will be defending his 100 metres Olympic title, Christie turned in a sub 10.5 seconds performance at a scheduled press conference yesterday.

Christie delivered himself of just 24 words, to the effect that he \was saying nothing but was in good shape before leaving the podium. The British sprinter was evidently taken aback to see top American contender Dennis Mitchell entered here for both the loo and 200 metres events. At the same meet last year in the run up to the Gothenburg World Championships, Christie made much of Mitchell's apparent attempts to avoid him in the heats.

Christie's presence in both the 100 metres and 200 metres events tonight adds some lustre to an already luminous occasion. Over the shorter length he faces not just Mitchell and his compatriot, Jon Drummond, both of whom submitted sub 10 second runs in a memorable race in Atlanta three weeks ago. Another lively contender comes in the shape of Nigerian Olapede Adeniken. The Namibian Frankie Fredericks, who ran 9.95 in St Denis, has opted to run just the 200 metres tonight. Christie's fastest race over the distance this year has been his 10.04 seconds in Madrid last week.

The field for the 200 metres will be haunted by the absence of world champion Michael Johnson, who has opted to give this meet a miss, causing some offence here in Rome. That leaves Christie's friend and training partner, Fredericks, as the only runner in the field to have dipped under 20 seconds this season. Dennis Mitchell opts to take his first outing over the distance tonight, potentially providing not one but two showdowns with Christie.

The middle distance races sees the return of Moses Kiptanui to the arena where he set a short-lived 5,000 metres record last year. His time of 12:55:30 lasted just eight days before the Ethiopian sensation Haile Gebreselassie banished it to the trivia corner.