SONIA O'SULLIVAN's track career was still on hold yesterday after she withdrew from tomorrow's big international meeting in Zurich because of her continuing illness.

A statement, issued in London on behalf of her agent Kim McDonald, said that she would not compete at the meeting, the second in the series of Golden Four events. The statement also said that no further announcements will be made until she is ready to return.

The next big meeting is scheduled for Cologne on Friday, but in the light of yesterday's development, that, too, can be ruled out. O'Sullivan is said to be still suffering from the effects of the viral infection which struck during the Olympic Games in Atlanta.

O'Sullivan was scheduled to run in the first of the post Olympic meetings at Monte Carlo last Saturday, but the more significant decision, by far, is that which has taken her out of the Zurich meet.

It means that her hopes of sharing for a third year in the Gold Bars Awards scheme have now been jettisoned.

The Zurich meeting, with a budget of almost £5 million, is the most lucrative on the grand prix circuit and a decision to opt out of it could only have been taken after long deliberation.

Since returning from Atlanta, O'Sullivan has been unavailable for comment. Likewise, McDonald, who arrived in Zurich from Monte Carlo yesterday, has not spoken publicly about her plans.

O'Sullivan, who underwent additional medical tests in London last week, is said to be training on a daily basis, but it is still not clear if those sessions involve strenuous work.

The next listed Golden Four meeting is at Brussels, a week on Friday. However, when she is well enough to run again, she may opt for one of the smaller, less competitive promotions.

The make up of the programme at Cologne threatens to be only marginally less competitive than Zurich, but while O'Sullivan keeps her options open for the moment, her Olympic team mate, Catherina McKiernan, has declared herself a definite runner.

McKiernan, fully recovered from her Atlanta exertions, is due to run in the 5,000 metres in which the opposition may include Portugual's Fernanda Riheiro, and her predecessor as Olympic 10,000 metres champion, Derartu Tulu of Ethiopia.