Marcus O'Sullivan arrives in New Zealand today for a short tour with the last of his great track ambitions finally achieved and consigned to history. In finishing third behind Kenyan Laban Rotich and America's Paul McMullen in three minutes 58.10 seconds in the Wannamaker Mile in Madison Square Garden, O'Sullivan became only the third athlete to run 100 sub-four-minute miles.

And a crowd of almost 18,000 rose to mark the occasion with a standing ovation which rang round an arena in which the 36-year-old has enjoyed some huge ovations over the years.

"I've been privileged to know some great days in my career and this surely was one of the best," he said. "Before the race, I kept asking myself if anybody really cared other than myself and my family if I ran under four minutes.

"The roar that went up as I crossed the line, however, told me all I wanted to know. Unlike me, the crowd knew immediately that I'd got the time and they were magnificent.

"Afterwards people kept asking who really won the race. That was unfair to Laban and Paul, but I suppose it reflected the hype and the general build-up to the race."

Once Rotich yielded to the promoters' pressures and agreed to run the mile rather than the 800 metres, the prospects of O'Sullivan marking the occasion with a win were remote. A week earlier, the Kenyan had pushed Haile Gebrselassie all the way in a thrilling race and, on that form, there was no way that any of his rivals in New York could hope to finish close to him.

He went out with a 56 second opening quarter as opposed to the Irishman's 57, but after that the gap grew inexorably wider. "To be honest, I was scared of going with him at that pace," O'Sullivan said. "I knew there were a lot of Irish people in the arena willing me through the four-minute barrier and I was afraid that if I pushed it too hard in the middle stages I might just blow up.

"As it was, my legs were beginning to come off over the last 250 yards - I dread to think what might have happened if I had tried to run with Rotich."

It was only in the closing stages that the Kenyan weakened and began to come back to the chasing pack. At that stage, however, the men behind him were also struggling and the leader held on to win in 3:55.69 with McMullen at 3:57.46. In the first full flush of his historic achievement, O'Sullivan wasn't holding back on his feelings. "Twenty four hours earlier, I was just another runner with a schedule to meet - now I feel like a complete athlete. And if I decide to go now, I can retire in the knowledge that I've hit the target I set myself three or four years ago.

"At that point in my career, the big championships were out of reach for me and there were times after finishing sixth or seventh in a race during the summer season in Europe when I'd ask myself if I really needed to keep on doing what I was doing.

"Deep down, however, I knew I had this great desire to run 100 sub-four miles. For me, it held a fascination I couldn't resist and it drove me in training and in competition." John Walker is expected to tender his personal congratulations on O'Sullivan's elevation to membership of one of the most elite of all sporting clubs when the Irishman sets down in Auckland this afternoon.

He is due to run a 1,000 metres race there on Wednesday and will then move up to compete over 1,500 metres at Hamilton on Saturday. He intends to have two races in Australia next week before returning home to formulate his short term plans.

On his own admission, there are not many more big days left for him in international competition. But if he chooses to retire soon, he can go with some marvellous memories of his last eventful run in New York.