Sonia O'Sullivan has provided some of the great Irish sporting moments of the last 10 years but yesterday's silver medal in the Olympic 5000 metres final was one of those sublime occasions that catches the breath and warms the heart. A remarkable athlete completed her collection of medals at the highest levels of sport with the most coveted prize of all - an Olympic medal. The scale of the achievement in Sydney ends any argument against the contention that O'Sullivan is the greatest Irish athlete of all time.
In a riveting contest, which will go down as one of the great Olympic finals of the Sydney games, O'Sullivan put the nightmare of Atlanta behind her with a stunning run which came within a second of capturing gold. Doubts about her ability to compete on the Olympic stage were answered with a display which combined power, tactical nous and courage. It was the most convincing and heart-warming performance by an Irish athlete since Ronnie Delany's gold at the Melbourne Olympics 44 years ago.
O'Sullivan enjoys a remarkable relationship with the Irish public. They recognise her as a wonderful athlete and have celebrated her success at world and European championships. Unusually for an athlete, however, they have also shared in some of the public agonies she has suffered in her illustrious career. Many will remember the tears and upset that followed her harrowing experiences on and off the track in Atlanta.
Recovery from the scandalous treatment she suffered in Atlanta in the unseemly row over her running gear was always likely. However, doubts persisted that the scale and importance of the Olympics had in some way affected her psychologically. Her low-key build-up to Sydney and self-confessed nervousness during the 5,000 metres heats last Friday did little to assuage those fears. But on the greatest stage of all, before 112,000 in Stadium Australia and a TV audience running into hundreds of millions, O'Sullivan laid those ghosts to rest yesterday.
As well as giving a wonderful fillip to Irish people at home and abroad, the knock-on effects for Irish sport can only be positive. It has been a very poor Olympics for the rest of the Irish team with many of our competitors failing to achieve anything close to their personal best. More and more young athletes need to aspire to the achievement levels of O'Sullivan rather than settling for appearing at an Olympics.
It would have been a sporting injustice had O'Sullivan not crowned her career with an Olympic medal. Now that she has the silver tucked away, it seems certain that she will run in the 10,000 metres heats on Wednesday. Her pedigree at the distance is impressive and the mental boost of yesterday's display may give her the confidence to go one better when the starting gun sounds for next Saturday's final.