"THE equation for the Olympic 5,000 metres championship began to change yesterday after a spokesman for the Chinese Athletics Federation said that Wang Junxia would run in the event.

The decision, which could have serious implications for Sonia O'Sullivan's chances of mining gold is subject to confirmation but the fact that the Chinese athlete is even contemplating what many believe to be an impossible double is significant.

From a long way back, Wang has been installed as a firm favourite for the 10,000 metres, an event in which her world record of 29 minutes, 31.78 seconds puts her out of range of any other current athlete.

Given the make up of the track and field programme here, however, it was regarded as impractical for anybody to attempt to combine the long distance double which male athletes of the quality of Emile Zatopek and Lasse Viren achieved in the past.

To achieve it, Wang must run the heats of the 5,000m on the opening day of the track programme, a week on Friday, report for the preliminaries of the 10,000m the following day and then, providing she qualifies, take her place on the starting line for the 5,000m final just 24 hours later.

After that, she would have a rest period of four days before the 10,000m final but clearly it is the imposition of running three championship races on successive days which provides the punitive element in the programme.

For most athletes, it would be tantamount to mission impossible but the Chinese spokesman correctly pointed to the fact that in completing the corresponding double in the national championships in Nanjing in May, Wang ran four races on consecutive days.

Not only that but after posting a time of 31:01.76, the fastest in two years in the 10,000m, she was only two seconds slower in winning the final two days later.

In between, she took the 5,000m title in 14:51.87, the fastest in the world to that point, to confirm her recovery from the problems she experienced last year after breaking with her former coach, Ma Junren.

Expectations of a 1,500m and 5,000m double for O'Sullivan were based, in part, on the fact that she would not have to run against the 23 year old Chinese wonder woman.

Now that the ground rules have changed, however, and Wang believes that she is running sufficiently well to risk the hazards of falling between stools, the long range predictions are in need of reappraisal.

Ever since she fell victim of a Chinese coup in Stuttgart three years ago when, unheralded and largely unknown to the western world, Junren sent out a string of runners who revolutionised standards in the middle and long distance events, the Irish woman has been wary of history repeating itself.

Mysteriously, Wang and Yunxia Qu, who deprived O'Sullivan of the 1,500m title in Germany, were marked absent from last season's world championships but while Qu is not included in the Olympic squad, the reemergence of Wang at this juncture is worrying.

Nor is that the only cloud on O'Sullivan's horizon for there are now reports that the Ethiopian, Deratu Tula wills also attempt the magical" double.

Tulu, the reigning Olympic 10,000m champion, has been conspicuous by her absence from the Grand Prix circuit this season but at her best, she is capable of producing the kind of finishing speed to kill off any opposition at the shorter distance.

Significantly, the best of O'Sullivan's two 5,000m runs this season, at Crystal Palace last Friday, puts her ahead of both Wang and Tula but she is the first to admit that championship competition demands a different range of priorities.

It was confirmed yesterday by the Irish chef equipe, Dermot Sherlock, that Francis Barrett, a member of the four strong boxing team, will carry the tricolour during Friday's opening ceremony in the Olympic Stadium.

Barrett, a member of the travelling community, is one of a family of 12 who live in three caravans in Galway. He is the second boxer to be given the honour in the last eight years, following in the footsteps of Wayne McCullagh at Seoul.

On that occasion, McCullagh's choice provoked an angry reaction from some of his neighbours in the Shankhill Road area of Belfast and now once again, the honour has been tinged by some controversy.

Earlier, it was reported that Sonia O'Sullivan had rejected the opportunity of leading the Irish delegation in Friday's ceremony but this has been emphatically denied by Sherlock.

"The fact is that Sonia was never going to be present at the ceremony, preferring to train in Philadelphia before travelling to Atlanta next Tuesday," he said.

We respect that decision and would not contemplate putting anybody's preparations at risk by asking them to do something which conflicted with training schedules.

"Competitors programmes take precedence over everything and if Sonia believes that she can prepare best, away from Atlanta, that has to be respected.

"Francis Barrett on the other hand is delighted to carry the flag and, having received the necessary approval from the Irish boxing delegation here, we are happy to go with that arrangement."