Silver Sonia comes home to fanfare welcome

First she came home as a European champion in 1994. Then it was as a World Champion a year later. Yesterday it was as Olympic 5000m silver medallist, and according to Sonia O'Sullivan, it was the sweetest homecoming of them all.

Always O'Sullivan has been drawn to the Irish bosom whether in defeat or victory. Her previous vain efforts for Olympic glory in Barcelona in 1992 and Atlanta in 1996 had all but drained emotional reservoirs. No other Irish athlete has been invested with so much national pride and expectation. Yesterday she could ooze satisfaction.

"An Olympic medal was always a dream in the back of my mind and something I was always going to chase after," she said after being engulfed by photographers and presented with a bouquet of flowers after disembarking at Dublin Airport. O'Sullivan had just returned from Sydney via Doha, Qatar, where she polished off the field in the Grand Prix 3000m final, picking up $50,000 in the process.

"I was always going to give everything I had to get a medal. The second I crossed the finish line in Sydney there were two thoughts going through my head. One was that I couldn't believe I got so close to winning. The other was that I couldn't believe that I actually had a silver medal."

Accompanied by her partner, Nick Bideau, and daughter, Ciara, the Cobh athlete has been used to fanfare welcomes. She won the European 3000m final in Helsinki in 1994, then claimed the World Championship 5000m gold in Gothenburg a year later before delivering an unprecedented double world cross-country title in Marrakesh in March 1998. An Olympic medal was the only missing piece.

"It's definitely better than being a world or European champion. There is something about the Olympics that makes it really special. It's not really possible to describe it. It's just a feeling that you have," she said.

Now engaged to do a lap of Croke Park today at the All Ireland football championship final replay between Galway and Kerry, O'Sullivan returns to familiar territory. Galway may well see it as a good omen. The last time she walked the hallowed ground two years ago they beat Kildare.

Los Angeles marathon silver medallist John Treacy, who greeted O'Sullivan as she stepped on to the tarmac, was under no illusions as to her place in athletics history. "If you look at Sonia's career in terms of what she has won she is the greatest Irish athlete ever. I have no doubt about that. No other Irish athlete has been as dominant or successful in major championships. After missing out in two Olympics coming back in her third to win a silver medal is a tremendous achievement," he said.

Loughrea on October 15th is her next step for the BUPA road race. Britain's Paula Radcliffe, who finished ahead of Sonia in the Olympic 10,000m final will be there to make it interesting.