Catherina McKiernan is known as one of the hardest people in the business to interview, partly because of shyness and modesty and a view of life which is well-grounded. So it was left to Irish Runner to bring her out of herself.

Talking to Frank Greally about the disappointment of missing out on the Olympic Games, McKiernan revealed that she hobbled around for a number of days without telling anyone about the seriousness of her injury.

"I went to Cavan to meet Joe Doonan later that day and said nothing about the leg," she says. "I warmed up and did all the bounding exercises that I do and got through them without any real pain. Then I went to warm down and could not walk. That brought tears to my eyes because I knew instinctively that this was serious. I knew it was going to cause problems.

"I remember going home to my mother and father . . . I wanted to keep out the good side at home and I was just shuffling through the house not wanting to let them know that there was something wrong . . . I left early because my sister was due home and I knew she would have noticed my distress."

McKiernan, like everyone else, knows that if she had been fit, she would have had a strong chance of a medal in Sydney.