Sonia O’Sullivan: Rome provides the perfect stepping stone to the Paris Olympics

Most of the time it’s an easy and straightforward decision. In Olympic year, all other sporting events pale into insignificance, especially as the Games draw closer by the day. That’s the prime focus for any athlete looking to make any sort of mark on Paris.

Matters are slightly more complicated for athletes also looking to make a mark in Rome, where exactly seven weeks before the athletics start at the Olympics in Paris, the European Athletics Championships take place at the Stadio Olimpico (June 7th-12th).

In a non-Olympic year, these championships would be the prime focus for European athletes, just as they were in Munich in 2022 when Ciara Mageean came home with a silver medal over the 1,500m, and Mark English a bronze over 800m.

Others ran well too, Israel Olatunde making the 100m final at age 20, running a national record of 10.17, Rhasidat Adeleke finishing fifth in the 400m at age 19, also in a then national record of 50.53 seconds. Sarah Lavin was also fifth in the 100m hurdles.

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Although the first European Championships took place in Turin in 1934 (for men only, women weren’t added until 1938), it was only after 2010 that they went biennial, and so also staged in Olympic years in 2012 and 2016. The 2020 European Championships, originally scheduled for Paris after the Tokyo Olympics, were cancelled due to Covid-19.

So I never faced this dilemma – an Olympics and European Championships in the same season – during my competitive years. But if I did, I probably would have raced the European Championships as well, as long as I was fit and ready and they weren’t too far out of the way.

That double task is made easier this year given the Olympics are also in Europe, in the same time zone as Rome, so athletes don’t have to worry about excess travel or dealing with different conditions. In many ways Rome will be a perfect test run for Paris.

European Athletics are also trying to make the event more appealing. Earlier this month World Athletics announced a prize-money pot of $2.4 million for the Paris Olympics, with each gold-medal winner getting $50,000, with the promise that prize-money will be extended to gold, silver, and bronze for LA 2028. No other sports have yet followed suit, but that’s only a matter of time.

For Rome, they have introduced performance bonuses, with an overall pot of €500,000. In all, 10 performance bonuses of €50,000 each will be allocated across five event areas, with an even split between the male and female disciplines. It will help attract more of the European athletes, and it’s possible that all medal winners will have financial bonuses too in future years.

All things considered, there is ample incentive there for athletes to head to Rome, if only to see it as that perfect dress rehearsal for those also chasing their Olympic dreams. There’s always a risk too in sacrificing a championships like Rome to put all the eggs into the Paris basket, with the potential of no rewards after many months of training and focus.

That’s the thing with the Olympics, the level of expectation is so elevated that nothing else matters, when in reality most athletes need to keep things at a consistent level, just building one more year of work on top of the previous one. And trusting that being one year stronger and more developed will be enough to have them raise the bar and reach a new level of success.

The fact is that for most Irish athletes the European stage is a much more manageable championship, where finals, and medals, are a lot more realistic prospect.

In Ireland’s modern Olympic history, since 1924, the country has won just seven medals in athletics while 17 medals have been won on the European stage, most recently in 2022.

Our last Olympic athletics medal was 2012, a bronze medal for Rob Heffernan on the streets of London in the 50km walk. Our last track medal was back in Sydney, 24 years ago, a lifetime for most athletes on the current Irish team.

There is some danger in splitting the focus. As Eliud Kipchoge said, it is better to chase one rabbit, because if you get distracted by two, you may just come home with nothing.

There is also a greater knowledge and awareness now of where the athlete is at and needs to be in Rome, with the ultimate aim of stepping up a level to what will be required in Paris in August, against the very best athletes from all over the world.

Nothing beats racing to elevate the athlete to another level, and there comes a time in the season when one may just be saturated by training. There needs to be that phase of racing, as very few athletes can really push the bar out in training to the same level required in racing.

With just under six weeks to the start of Rome, and the Diamond League events already kicking off in China in April, the athletics season is stretching out over six months of the year now.

The World Relay Championships are also taking place next weekend in the Bahamas and Ireland will be represented by the strongest team available in the women’s 4x400m and mixed 4x400m. The addition of Adeleke to the team is a game changer for Ireland to be in contention for medals, with cash prizes on offer, and ultimately qualification for Paris.

For some Irish athletes, Rome may come a bit too early, especially for those still managing injuries. But again there is potential get some race practice, even if racing a bit underdone.

Experiencing a championships like in Rome can also give the athlete more confidence, knowing what is required to fight for position and change pace across qualifying rounds, and then accepting your fate in the final, depending on the tactics employed by the main contenders.

Most athletes have made up their mind and see Paris in August as their most important sporting event of the year. Whatever happens in Rome in June may be long forgotten by then. But to me the latter makes sense as the ideal stepping stone and maybe even a launch pad to something far bigger.