In the moment when Sonia O'Sullivan finally broke away from Munich's Olympic Stadium, when her race was done and the silver medal collected and the chatter finished, the deeper feelings seemed to sink in. And they were harder to grasp. Ian O'Riordan reports from Munich

"Right now I'm going back to the English Garden for a long run," she said. "And I don't care if I get lost."

There was a little thinking to do. As it turned out, Saturday's 5,000 metres had been practically tailor-made as the race to fit O'Sullivan's greatest asset as an athlete: the sprint finish. With the exception of Gabriela Szabo, it's been a long time since someone last got the better of her in a championship showdown which was decided in the closing 200 metres.

Yet there are some reasons why Marta Dominguez got to the line first. Not just that it was a race she too wanted to win - truly, madly, deeply - and that she too has developed into a seasoned championship runner, but also because of the way the sprint unfolded. Timing turned out to be everything.

For Dominguez - who always wears a pink headband given to her by her grandmother for luck - the bronze medal behind O'Sullivan in the European 5,000 metres in Budapest four years ago was the start of steady and notable progression. Last summer, in Edmonton, she took world silver behind the EPO-fuelled Olga Yegorova, and at 26 is coming into her prime.

It was a sprint finish which won her the European Indoor 3,000 metres in Vienna last March, but she had raced so sparingly since then that her threat to O'Sullivan was never truly considered.

At no point, though, did O'Sullivan feel safe after making her break just into the final bend.

"Well no, because I knew I went too early. And immediately I had a doubt in my mind. I had no idea who was behind me, and of course I was thinking I had to get to the line first.

"But when your legs start going from underneath you, and you start digging into the track, you just start praying really. I knew with about 70 metres to go my legs were gone. And there was nothing left."

Just nine-hundredths of a second separated them on the line, and the winning time of 15 minutes 14.76 seconds has slow and tactical written all over it.

In a field of 21 runners, O'Sullivan did the smart thing and got herself in the front trio from the start, but sitting on the verge of lane two meant slightly more work, and slightly less economical running.

When the leaders hit the bell lap in 14.13.97, O'Sullivan was perfectly positioned behind Dominguez and the Russian with the unpronounceable surname, Yelena Zadorozhnaya. By then Yegorova looked burnt, but with EPO testing so more rigid she resembles the ordinary athlete she was three years back.

O'Sullivan's tactics, though, went a little astray with 200 metres to go.

"Well, I was in a bad position. And I didn't feel that confident. I was a little boxed-in and trying to get out of it. So I wasn't just thinking about driving for the line, I was thinking about getting into position as well.

"I think I wanted to win that a bit too much. And maybe made myself a little bit too nervous in the race. But I couldn't have done any more from the position I put myself into."

Still, O'Sullivan came into the home straight with a metre lead, and finally slipped into the inside. Dominguez glanced back once but then set her sights on the line too.

By coming back outside O'Sullivan, she knew exactly what she had to do, and with both athletes grimacing with the pain of the sprint it was impossible to know who had more in reserve. Three metres from the line Dominguez's reserves proved the greater.

O'Sullivan was assuring herself that the 10,000 metres was now well behind her, and the recovery complete. Yet her effort over the 25 laps last Tuesday night, when she ran an Irish record of 30.47.59, was so total that there is a chance some of the effects may still have been in her legs on Saturday.

In fact, her last 200 metres in the 10,000 metres - 28.4 seconds - was marginally faster than the closing 29.8 she produced on Saturday.

And Dominguez, who still lives and trains in northern Spain, indicated afterwards that she had trained specifically for a fast finish in recent weeks.

"I knew the last few laps would be quick. So for the last three weeks I've trained especially for a fast finish like that. And the race went exactly as I expected. I was simply stronger, but I think the Irish athlete used her elbows a lot."

A faster race, a little more to O'Sullivan's liking, may have taken some of the sting out of Dominguez, but once Paula Radcliffe announced that she wouldn't double up then a tactical race always beckoned. If it wasn't for the young, Ethiopian-born Turkish athlete Elvan Abeylegesse, then the pace might have reduced to a crawl.

What O'Sullivan has been reminded, however, is that there is still very much a place for her in the pinnacle of championship 5,000 metre running. She may just need to get a little more regular practice as the climax of the Athens Olympics approaches.

"That's the tricky thing. You do need the races for practice in situations like that," she agreed. "But you need to have fewer races, too, so you're ready, and want to run well. That was the way I felt here, and just being here will bring me on to the next step.

"But I'm definitely still thinking more about 5,000 metres on the track. I'm happier there and I'm more suited to it. That's still the main goal and I've always believed that that's what I'm going to run in the next Olympics."

The crucial difference between 2002 and her successful double of 1998 was the build-up. Eight months ago O'Sullivan gave birth to her second daughter, Sophie, and since then it's been something of a race against time to get herself in prime championship condition.

"Well, I'm definitely fit enough. It just takes some time and practice to get fully back. I nearly had it there but I think I was definitely missing that little bit of confidence."

But there is still a brighter side to O'Sullivan's European Championships that wasn't there in 1998.

"Well, of course its great to go home to the two kids. You ask Ciara did she watch the race last night, and she says 'yes'. You'll say 'did mammy win' and she'll say 'yes' as well. So it doesn't really matter.

"And I won silver on Tuesday and that medal was for Ciara. I suppose I had to win silver again for Sophie, or otherwise there would be a fight."