Sonia O'Sullivan is set to renew rivalry with the Kenyan Tegla Loroupe in the Grand Prix finals at Doha in Qatar on Thursday.
Loroupe, who finished fifth in the Olympic 10,000 metres final, one place ahead of O'Sullivan, was yesterday confirmed as a starter in the 3,000 metres event in the last big meeting of the international season.
Much to her disappointment, O'Sullivan will not have the opportunity of making a point to the two Ethiopians, Derartu Tulu and Gete Wami, who were first and second in Saturday's big race in the Olympic Stadium.
Both athletes have returned home to what is likely to be a huge reception after Ethiopia's achievement is scooping some of the most coveted titles in Sydney.
"That's something of a letdown for I was looking forward to racing Tulu and Wami over a distance in which I am a lot more experienced than in the 10,000 metres," said O'Sullivan.
"From what I am told, Sally Barsosio will be joining Loroupe in the race in Qatar so it will still be very competitive. But I would prefer to have had the chance of meeting up again with the Ethiopians."
The opportunity of running in the 3,000 metres rather than the 5,000 metres originally planned appeals to O'Sullivan. "After having four hard races in the Olympics I wasn't particularly looking forward to running another 5,000 metres in the Grand Prix," she said.
"The 3,000 metres is still my favourite event and for me it's the ideal way of ending the track season."
A Bulgarian pharmaceutical company apologised yesterday for its inadvertent role in the disqualification of Bulgarian weightlifters at the Olympics.
Three weightlifters were stripped of their medals after testing positive for a diuretic during the Games. Bulgaria's pharmaceutical watchdog had said it had found traces of the banned diuretic furosemide in Orocetam, a medication made by the company Sopharma.
Bulgaria's weightlifting coach Ivan Abadzhiev resigned after saying he had given the athletes Orocetam, unaware that one of the components was furosemide. Orocetam is designed to improve the flow of blood to the brain during and after illness.
