O'Sullivan has more than half a chance

ATHLETICS: There is clearly no holding back Sonia O'Sullivan as she attempts to get over her Olympic disappointment as quickly as possible. Tomorrow morning in Newcastle she'll line up alongside several of her old rivals in the Great North Run half marathon, a race she's won twice in the past and, by the sound of things, is determined to win again.

While her Olympic 5,000- metre heartbreak might still be fresh in the minds of the Irish public, O'Sullivan has already put some of it behind her by winning the London road race challenge in Hyde Park just two weeks after her tearful experience in Athens.

On that occasion she out-sprinted Ethiopia's two-time Olympic champion Derartu Tulu, who had just won the bronze medal in Athens over 10,000 metres.

Tulu will again toe the line in Newcastle, along with her Ethiopian compatriot Berhane Adere - coming right back to her best after missing the Olympics, apparently through lack of fitness. Australia's world cross-country champion Benita Johnson and the top Kenyan Susan Chepkemei are also in the elite mix.

In addition, O'Sullivan will have her old Irish rival Catherina McKiernan for company.

The Cavan athlete is still intent on making one last go at the marathon sometime in the future, and next spring appears the likely date. Yet, this race should provide McKiernan with a good idea of where she now stands in long-distance road running.

Victory though is definitely on the mind of O'Sullivan. "It's obviously going to be a tough test for me. But I know the course very well and have done the preparations I need to race well."

Two years ago O'Sullivan ran a brilliant Irish record of 67 minutes and 19 seconds on the 13.1-mile course from Newcastle to South Shields, even though she never quite recovered for the New York marathon a month later. She also won in 1998.

In the meantime, O'Sullivan hasn't yet ruled out running the World Half Marathon championships in New Delhi on Sunday week, another race she tried once before, in May of 2002.

The men's race was due to provide some Irish interest in Séamus Power, but he withdrew yesterday because of injury.

The Clare athlete last month won the Irish half marathon by a considerable distance, clocking 63:20 over a tough Castlebar course but is now looking to be fit for the European cross-country championships in December.

Again the Great North Run is a 47,000 sell-out and starts at 10.40 - with live coverage on BBC.