Sonia O'Sullivan completed the competitive element of her preparations for Sydney in relaxed style in Runaway Bay on Australia's Gold Coast yesterday.
Her experience during a busy afternoon reflected that of the race organisers. O'Sullivan originally intended running an 800 metres race here but wound up running in both the 800 metres and the 1,500. Meanwhile, a track meet originally scheduled to be a low profile local affair to mark the opening of a new facility grew into something different as star athletes of the calibre of Merlene Ottey and Bruny Surin showed up to dust down their limbs one last time before Sydney.
Runaway Bay a resort down on Australians resort strip The Gold Coast had never seen such a gathering of athletes before. Both the British and American teams are billeted nearby and the number of stars gathering to just watch easily matched those actually competing.
O Sullivan expressed herself as being "really happy" with her days work. She finished third in an extremely competitive 800 metres early in the programme, running 2:04:66 in windy conditions to come home behind Tamsyn Lewis of Australia and Jolanda Ceplak of Slovenia. A battling finish down the back straight produced an extremely fast second lap and O'Sullivan was pleased with her sharpness.
"I wanted an 800 metres race because it is the sort of thing that is hard to do in training. I looked on it as four segments of 200 each so it was a chance to practice the final kick in a longer race. I haven't been running 800s so I knew the pace at the start would be tough but I hung in there and at the end I was pleased to be able push them to the line."
Having completed the 800 metres O'Sullivan was faced with a choice: Either run 10 miles or so on her own later in the day or compete again in the 1,500. She opted to extract maximum value from her day by going to the start line for the longer race. The 1,500 metres attracted a small but high quality field including Mardrea Hyman of Jamaica, Marla Runyan the American Olympian, Georgie Clarke the 16-year-old Australian prodigy and O'Sullivan's erstwhile babysitter and another Australian Sarah Lewis.
Again the name of the game was patience and control. O'Sullivan ran in third spot (in a field of six) for the entire race before producing a kick just off the final curve to win with a time of 4:09:97 ahead of Hyman.
"It was tough out there with the wind and the pace of the race picked up in the last lap. You don't know when you have raced earlier what you have left in the tank but coming down the straight there was enough to take it.
"It wasn't the perfect race in terms of times and everything but I got what I wanted out of it."
O'Sullivan, her daughter Ciara and partner Nick Bideau are staying on Curaun Island a nearby resort facility owned by the legendary Australian distance runner Ron Clarke. They will remain there until next Friday when O'Sullivan intends shifting base to the Olympic village in Sydney and taking part in that nights opening ceremony of the Games.
The decision to take part in the opening ceremony marks a change in approach for O'Sullivan and reflects a new meticulousness in her preparation.
Having never visited the Olympic stadium in Atlanta before she raced there with disastrous consequences in 1996 she is taking every opportunity to familiarise herself with a venue in which she has already completed twice.
"The opening ceremony will give me another chance to experience the stadium when it is full and to get used to that atmosphere. The rest of the time down there will be for doing a bit of work and getting to establish a routine. What shuttle buses to get, the best time to get meals. I need to work out the routine which will suit me best."
There was less good fortune to be divided out among the remainder of the Irish contingent at Runaway Bay. Emily Maher accompanied by her drug banned mentor Linford Christie competed in the 100 and 200 metres but failed to make the qualifying time in either event. As Christie ducked and dived the media the Kilkenny athlete trailed home in sixth place in an competitive 200 metre race which was won by Australian Olympian Melinda Gainsford Taylor. Earlier in the afternoon Maher finished third among four contestants in her 100 metres heat, her time of 11.69 seconds being .29 outside the required A standard for Olympic qualification.
Also not quite making the cut on the second last day for the submission of qualifying times was Eugene Farrell who came home last in a competitive 400 metres heat but didn't quite make the A standard qualifying time of 45.8 seconds.
Most heartbreaking of all was suffered by Tipperary sprinter Gary Ryan. Having reached the quarter-finals of the 200 metre sprint event in Atlanta, Ryan's attempts to progress have been stymied horribly by injuries, especially in the past 12 months. Competing late in the afternoon in the 200 metres final he endured a series of false starts by other athletes before feeling his starting block slip away beneath him when the race finally got under way.
Left standing as the race progressed the life visibly seeped out of Ryan. In a generous gesture from the race organisers an invitational 200 metres was set up as the last race of the afternoon to give Ryan a chance to make the cut.
In near darkness he lined up against a solitary Australian competitor in horrible conditions. The wind was blowing hard, spectators were streaming out of the arena and officials were tidying hurdles and debris off the track. He ran 21.07, a fine effort, in the circumstances but outside the A standard of 20.70 which he needed to compete in more than the relays in Sydney.
