Sir, - I would like to offer my commiserations to Sonia on the outcome of the 5,000m final on Sunday, and to commend her on facing the media to explain what went wrong. I was appalled, however, by the conduct of the second half of the press conference on Monday, and particularly by the fact that Sonia was not excused when the matters pertaining to the Olympic final were concluded.
Instead, she sat while Pat Hickey splayed out a power game with BLE. Surely this was not the best preparation for an athlete with less than 48 hours remaining to a major race? Pat Hickey constantly stated that the interests of the athlete were first and foremost. If that was the case, why did he tell the nation a couple of weeks ago that Sonia refused to carry the flag at the opening ceremony, thus creating major controversy which, some people, including John Treacy, believe may have been a contributing factor to her condition?
Apart from Michelle Smith, the person from the Irish party who seems to have been on our television screens most over the past couple of weeks has been Pat Hickey. Do the athletes really come first? - Yours, etc.,
Shrewsbury Wood,
Cabinteely, Dublin 18.