Sometimes it's wrong to keep landing all the Irish hopes on Sonia O'Sullivan's shoulders, but not right now. For another race and another gold medal chase there is no one more fired up and intent on glory. Ian O'Riordan reports from Munich.
So as the climax approaches to another memorable European Athletics Championships, it is O'Sullivan's quest to retain her 5,000 metres title that will raise our heartbeats and test the nerves just like old times, like Sydney and Budapest and beyond.
And the stage for this afternoon's final in Munich (4.15 Irish time) is perfectly set. Paula Radcliffe, the supreme winner of the 10,000 metres, has returned home to start her preparations for the Chicago marathon. Gabriela Szabo, her other great rival, has dodged the challenge and goes instead in the 1,500 metres.
What beckons is still a true championship scenario. Olga Yegorova, surely the most feared name in world 5,000 metre running, has been keeping a low profile, but like any Russian athlete that typically means she will be at her most dangerous. In a straight final of 23 runners there will always be some dark horses, too.
Sometimes, though, we forget the depth of O'Sullivan's talent. Tuesday's performance over 10,000 metres - an Irish record, faster than she ran in the Sydney Olympics - took her into new territory, and only the fearless running of Radcliffe denied her gold.
Yesterday, as she stopped to talk when biking around Munich's English Garden, the word from O'Sullivan was nothing but positive.
"I would have been happy if Paula was in there. If anything, she's a loss, 'cause if she was in there then it was obvious to everyone what was going to happen. But there are more people in there now who want a tactical race than a pacing race. And that takes it back to a typical championship race.
"But if Paula was still in there I would still be thinking about winning it. It just meant it would be a faster race, and I'd have a chance of breaking my Irish record. I'm still ready to run 14 minutes 30 seconds if someone wants to run that. But if they're not going to run that then I'm not going to run it by myself.
"But I always felt I'd be more ready to run 14.30 than run 30 minutes for the 10,000 metres."
Sometimes, too, we forget O'Sullivan's vast reserves of endurance. She wanted heats of the 5,000 metres the other night to stretch her legs after Tuesday, so instead went down to the track on Thursday and ran repeat sprints over 300 metres.
"The calf muscles were a bit sore after the 10,000 metres, but I did a mini session on the track and had a massage afterwards and I feel perfect now. I'm definitely ready for it."
Sometimes it's hard to see beyond O'Sullivan, but Yegorova is a real threat. Last year she was unbeatable over the distance, but those performances were clouded by the controversial drug test that revealed EPO in her system, but brought no suspension because the test had not yet been ratified.
Yegorova has raced sparingly this year, but her 14.48.29 from the Oslo Grand Prix is 30 seconds faster than O'Sullivan has run this season.
"Sure, I've seen some of the races Yegorova's run this year. And she's definitely not running like she was last year. But she hasn't run for a few weeks now, so whether she's gone off and got right I don't know. We'll find out soon enough."
Sometimes we need reminding of O'Sullivan's unceasing desire for victory, a hunger for success that she first unearthed over a decade ago.
"I don't know what it is. Ever since I ran the Olympics in 1992, even if it was a heat, I wanted to win the race. It's this competitive thing in me. If the race is there to be won then I'm going to do it."
O'Sullivan has dominated this level of distance running in Europe since 1994, when she won the 3,000 metres title in Helsinki. Four years later it was the 5,000-10,000 metres double in Budapest. It may be another day and another place, but with a fourth gold medal it would be like time has stood still.
