O'Sullivan out to end year on high

Athletics/2005 Programme: On the day the Athletics Association of Ireland (AAI) announced their international programme for 2005, Sonia O'Sullivan confirmed her participation in the last major event of the season, next month's European Cross Country championships in Helsingdorf, Germany.

It will be O'Sullivan's second successive appearance in the championships, following her fourth-place finish in Edinburgh last year, a result which ultimately secured Ireland silver medals in the team race. And with her 35th birthday just three weeks away, chances are it will also be one of O'Sullivan's last appearances in an Irish vest.

Set for December 12th, the European Cross Country is one of the few titles O'Sullivan has yet to win, and it could yet crown an otherwise disappointing season with some glory. Defending champion Paula Radcliffe will not be running because of her exploits in the New York marathon, while O'Sullivan will depart for Australia immediately after the event, where she is likely to prepare for a spring marathon, possibly London.

This news contrasted with the short-term future of Ireland's best male distance runner, Alistair Cragg. Now back living at his American base in Arkansas, Cragg last week underwent a hernia operation for the second time, and that is set to keep him out of all competition until at least the New Year.

It means Cragg, who was Ireland's only Olympic track finalist at the Athens Olympics, is targeting the European Indoor championships in Madrid on March 4th-6th as his return to competitive running.

That event kick-starts a comprehensive international programme set out by AAI, peaking with the World Championships in Helsinki on August 6th-14th.

"This is probably our most extensive international programme yet," said AAI international secretary Liam Hennessy. "We're looking at eight major championships in various levels. And straightaway we'll be taking the European Indoors very seriously, because a lot of our athletes know that's an event they can do well in."

Hennessy also confirmed B-standards would be accepted for the World Championships, and that athletes would have until the national championships on July 24th to attain the standards.

According to Elaine Fitzgerald, the AAI high-performance director, a recent series of interviews with the Irish athletes in Athens revealed two main issues with the Olympic preparation: the lack or proper medical and sports science support, and the lack of proper competition.

"In many cases the athletes found their season was a washout," added Fitzgerald, "and they ended up reacting to various schedules rather than being able to plan for them."

European Indoor Championships (Madrid, March 4th-6th)

World Cross Country (St Etienne, France, March 19th-20th)

European Winter Throwing Cup (Mersin, Turkey, March 12th-13th)

European 10,000 Cup (Barakaldo, Spain, April 2nd)

European Race Walking Cup (Miskolc, Hungary, May 21th-22nd)

European Youth Olympics (Lignano, Italy, July 3rd-7th)

World Youth Championships (Marrakesh, Morocco July 13th-17th)

European Under-23 Championships (Erfurt, Germany, July 14th-17th)

European Junior Championships (Kaunas, Lithuania, July 21st-24th)

IAAF World Championships (Helsinki, August 6th-14th)

World University Games (Izmir, Turkey, August 15th-20th)

World Half Marathon (Edmonton, Canada, October 1st)

European Cross Country (Tilburg, Netherlands, December 11th)