Athletics News: Sonia O'Sullivan recalled yesterday how the tremendous backing displayed by Irish fans in the Athens Olympic stadium banished any thoughts of retirement after her Games ambitions were ruined by illness.

O'Sullivan, the 5,000 metres silver medallist in Sydney, started her final race over the distance suffering from a badly upset stomach and was not in shape to mount any challenge for another medal. But the 34-year-old bravely completed the 12½ excruciating laps but an hour after the race she was still retching violently after the discomfort of her physical efforts.

Three days after the race O'Sullivan admitted she was not certain what the future held for her and that retirement was an option.

"I met with the Irish supporters who were in the Olympic stadium. Obviously I was still upset after the race but felt I must show my face," said O'Sullivan. "Going to the stadium was the best thing I could have done. It was good to go there and the fans were happy to see me. They were a little upset for me but every one of them was supportive of what had happened. They're marvellous folk. That's what really persuaded me I must carry on."

The former European 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres gold medallist defended her decision to contest the final despite the fact, healthwise, she was not in shape and up to the challenge.

"I had to do it otherwise I would have wondered in the years to come what might have happened," said O'Sullivan. "Of course I was feeling pretty bad but I knew I had to turn out. In the final I thought I'd just try my hardest and see how things went.

"Who knows I might have got rid of the stomach pains and ran a personal best. It didn't happen but I did try. You cannot go to an Olympics and not take part if you feel you can run."

O'Sullivan has announced her next major race will be the BUPA Great North Run on September 26th. Last Sunday O'Sullivan won the Flora Lite Challenge for women in a world-class five kilometres time of 15 minutes six seconds in London's Hyde Park. O'Sullivan, who beat two-time Olympic 10,000 metres champion and Ethiopia's Athens bronze-medallist Derartu Tulu, said: "I knew I was in good shape and of course it was a great way to bounce back."

She is looking forward to regaining the Great North Run title which was won by Paula Radcliffe when clocking the world's fastest-ever half marathon time from Newcastle to South Shields 12 months ago.