ATHLETICS/Zurich Grand Prix: With her best race of the season by some distance Sonia O'Sullivan has put her Olympic aspirations back on track. At the Golden League meeting in Zurich last night, O'Sullivan took third over 3,000 metres, but only after a courageous and clearly determined display of front running that for a time threatened to destroy the world-class field.
Four laps from home O'Sullivan began opening what was soon a 15-metre lead, and it was only with two laps of the Letzigrund remaining that Kenya's Olympic hope Edith Masai closed the gap.
Masai went on to win in eight minutes 36.43 seconds, her best time of the season and the fourth-fastest in the world this year.
O'Sullivan was left with a fight on her hands for second, and just lost out to the emerging Ethiopian Tola Zenebech along the finishing straight, but the Cork woman had reason to be well satisfied with her time of 8:41.42, her best since the same meeting last year, when she ran 8:37.98.
More significant, her overall effort was a marked improvement on recent form, her time all of 31 seconds faster than her previous run over the distance this season, when she clocked 9:12.49 in Madrid.
On this evidence, O'Sullivan goes to Athens with every chance of making the final at least.
In fact, at one stage last night, she looked like the O'Sullivan of old, moving up to the shoulders of the leaders toward the end of the first lap and remaining there for two circuits before storming into the lead at 1,500 metres and leading on her own at 2,000 metres in 5:45.52.
In that spell, she injected a circuit of 67.16, which ultimately broke apart the 18-runner field.
Another Irish Olympian, Mark Carroll, had a less rewarding night, trailing in 15th over 5,000 metres in 13:38.40, the race won by Kenyan John Kibowen in 13:01.69.
Asafa Powell underlined his status as favourite for Olympic gold in the 100 metres when he beat current champion Maurice Greene of the US for the second time in a week.
Jamaican Powell won by one-hundredth of a second with a time of 9.93. "I am feeling great because I beat Maurice Greene again and I guess I am the big favourite for the Olympic Games now," said Powell.
"I am very confident because I have been improving my start a lot. It was better than in London but to beat Asafa I need a complete race," said Greene.
World champion Kim Collins, of St Kitts and Nevis, was a disappointing seventh.
A blisteringly fast 1,500 metres was won by Bernard Lagat of Kenya after a magnificent battle with world-record holder Hicham El Guerrouj. Lagat posted a world-leading 3:27.40, with El Guerrouj 24-hundredths behind.
Maria Mutola showed she is back from the hamstring injury that has dogged her all summer, claiming a 12th successive Weltklasse 800 metres title in a season's best time of 1:57.47.
Bahrain's Youssef Saad Kamel, formerly Gregory Konchellah of Kenya, set the best time for 2004 when he ran 1:43.12 in the B-series 800 metres race.
Five athletes - Felix Sanchez, Christian Olsson, Virgilijus Alekna, Hestrie Cloete and Tonique Williams-Darling - remain in contention for the $1-million Golden League jackpot.
