Sonia O'sullivan slipped quietly into Athens yesterday, just hours before the deadline for the declaration of entries for the 1,500 metres in the World Athletics Championships expired.

O'Sullivan, whose defence of the 5,000 metres title is largely dependant on how she fares in the 1,500 metres tomorrow morning, is not the last of the Irish squad to arrive.

That distinction is likely to go to Nick Sweeney, the national discus champion, who has been involved in a protracted fight for fitness after aggravating a knee injury earlier in the season.

A BLE spokesman said yesterday that Sweeney was still in Sweden where he has been training for the last week, but in the absence of any information to the contrary, he assumed that the athlete would travel to Athens over the weekend.

The manner of O'Sullivan's arrival contrasted starkly with the media attention which preceded her entry into Atlanta last year and which, sadly, never went away during her ill-fated challenge for an Olympic title.

Here, there was little visible evidence of the trappings which normally attach to star status on these occasions as she was shown to a waiting coach and driven into the centre of a city. In fairness, her's was not a unique case. Michael Johnson, cast once more in a lead role for the most compelling drama since Atlanta, was made to stand and wait with other, lesser mortals after his baggage had gone temporarily missing on a flight from London.

Johnson, markedly more tetchy on this occasion, was eventually reunited with his luggage before being transported, like O'Sullivan, into this hot, mildly chaotic city in circumstances which were somewhat less than luxurious.

Defeat by Donovan Bailey in that controversial race over 150 metres in Toronto, followed by the end of that unbeaten 400 metres sequence in Paris, has, it seems, left some scars on the tall Texan and it showed in the brusque manner in which he dealt with assembled journalists. One of O'Sullivan's first actions on her arrival was to inquire of team manager Nick Davis if she will be required to run twice over the weekend for the privilege of lining up in the final of the 1,500 metres on Tuesday.

The preliminary signs suggest that she will, for later in the day it emerged that 42 athletes, including Olympic champion Svetlana Masterkova, have indicated their intention of running. By the time the action starts, the likelihood is that a number of these will have withdrawn, but it will be a surprise if the figure falls below 36.

That would necessitate three heats of 12 with the first four in each race, together with the four fastest losers, progressing to the semi-finals on Sunday evening (6.35 Irish time).

The timing of tomorrow's heats is a source of some agitation in the Irish camp, for depending on the draw, O'Sullivan could be running as early 9.00 a.m. (7.00 a.m.) Irish time. That would mean a waking call at 6.00 a.m. for the athletes, and in a sport where even the more dedicated tend to make late starts to the day, that will bring some problems.

Like the vast majority of other visiting teams, the Irish have opted for the minimum period of acclimatisation in a city where noon temperatures can frequently reach into the mid-nineties. The weather, however, is just part of the problem. Equally important for those with early starts is the difficulty of adjusting bodyclocks.

To hydrate adequately and prepare the body for high stress, it is necessary to indulge in several hours of preparation. And by way of a rehearsal, several Irish athletes, among them Susan Smith, had left the team hotel by 6.30 a.m. yesterday, for a track session some 90 minutes later.

Sinead Delahunty, a second contender Irish contender for the 1,500 metres title, was also out early and reported that she had handled the assignment without too many disturbing reactions.

The exercise is likely to be repeated this morning when O'Sullivan will make her first visit to the new Olympic stadium, named after the legendary Greek, Spyridon Louis, who won the first marathon of the modern Olympics in 1896.

In terms of appointment, this arena fits easily into any list of the best in the world and the hope is that when ambition hardens into application, O'Sullivan will not be found wanting in one of the quality events of the championship.

Apart from Masterkova, there is the formidable presence of Gabriele Szabo, the young Romanian who, in her most recent meetings with O'Sullivan, has shown herself to be no great respecter of authority.

There will also be Kutre Dulecha, the young Ethiopian, who has a couple of wins to her credit over the Irish woman this season and Kelly Holmes, rightly regarded as one of Britain's more realistic hopes of winning a track medal.

Jo Hermens, manager of 5,000 and 10,000 metres world record holder Hale Gebrselassie, denied yesterday that the reason the Ethiopian had changed his mind about running in Athens was because the IAAF threatened him with a three week ban.On Tuesday, Gebrselassie said that he would run after all. He has a date to race against ace Kenyan Daniel Komen in Zurich four days after the championships end.The IAAF brought in such bans to stop athletes skipping championships so that they would be fresh enough for the more lucrative Grand Prix circuit.