THE word among the international athletics community is that Sonia O'Sullivan is back and ready to reimpose herself on middle distance running, after a fine performance in Paris.

O'Sullivan took her leave of the World Indoor Championships on Saturday without the gold medal she coveted and some £12,000 short of the £30,000 she had hoped to collect from winning the 3,000 metres championship.

In every other respect, however, it was a rewarding day for the Irish champion in the first major test of her character since she was overtaken by misfortune in the second half of last year.

She beat all but the gifted young Romanian, Gabriela Szabo, who turned her back on the probability of a 1,500 metres title success for the chance to make some pertinent points to O'Sullivan.

Driven by ambition more than confidence, she tracked O'Sullivan assiduously throughout the race before delivering the decisive challenge only 30 metres from the line. That was as close as Szabo came to losing the title she won in Barcelona two years ago.

Back at a reasonable remove in third place, was Fernanda Ribeiro of Portugal who, having failed to detach herself from the chasing pack in the middle stages, settled for the best vantage point in the Omnisports Centre, as the race built to a climax immediately in front of her.

Defeat never comes easily to the Irish athlete, yet the manner in which she answered those of her critics who reckoned that the scars of her collapse in Atlanta last summer were permanent was deeply satisfying. After the crisis of confidence which endured throughout the winter, it was good to be competitive again, said O'Sullivan.

"I knew from recent training sessions that I had myself in good condition, but in spite of all my experience, I still needed the reassurance of proving it in a championship race," she said.

"This I did to my satisfaction today and my only regret is that because of the overlap in the two events, I can't run in the 1,500 metres final tomorrow. That's how confident I am now and it's a good feeling.

"It makes me that much more confident going into the new outdoor season. It's easy making promises at this range, but the way I see it just now, is that nobody will get the chance of repeating what Gabriela has done here."

That was possibly an oblique reference to the only tactical error she made in the race when, instead of moving on to the kerb, she left just enough room for the Romanian to squeeze through on the inside.

It ought to be stressed, however, that she had chosen to run in the second lane almost throughout and saw no valid reason to change after racing off the last bend with a dwindling lead of two metres.

"The quickest way home was in a straight line and while I may have screwed it up in part, by leaving room on the inside lane, I ran the race as I found it.

"In fact, I was concentrating so much on my own performance, that I didn't even think of Szabo behind me. I knew that if I got it right, nobody was going to beat me on the day - and I very nearly did."

On an evening when the heat and humidity inside the arena was often oppressive, there was no evidence of the physical distress which heralded her precipitous collapse in Atlanta.

Here, she was composed and decisive, dictating the pattern of the race, it seemed, even on those occasions when she was running in second place at Ribeiro's shoulder. With just short of 300 metres left, she went for broke and gambled on her long, rhythmic stride carrying her home.

Ominously, however, she failed to shake off Szabo and even after she kicked again with 120 metres to go, she discovered that the Romanian was still on her heels. Now it was a question of whether she could hold on to the line but, sadly, it didn't come quickly enough for her.

"When I caught sight of her coming through on the inside, my legs just went from under me," she admitted. "That's the worst feeling of all in a race, for at that stage, you realise, only too well, that there is no way back.

To overlook the emerging threat of the Romanian in the 1,500 and 5,000 metres, would clearly be to invite further disappointment for O'Sullivan. At 21, six years younger than her rival, Szabo can feel confident that all her best days are still ahead of her.

And yet, there was enough in Saturday's drama to suggest that when O'Sullivan finds a racing edge, she will go close to retaining her world outdoor title at Athens in August.

For Sinead Delahunty, it was a disturbing day. Some good runs in America in recent months suggested that she was capable of delivering a meaningful challenge here. Instead, she was in trouble almost from the start and finished last of the 15 starters.

Nor was there a lot of joy for Niall Bruton. After finishing just out of the medals in fourth place in these championships two years ago, he faded to eighth in the 1,500 metres final which was won by the Moroccan, Hitcham El Guerroudj.

Not even the former Olympic champion, William Tanui of Kenya, could live with the Moroccan in this mood and in the end, it was the German, Rudiger Stenzel, who took second place.

Mark Mandy went out of the high jump championship at 2.24 metres, without ever getting his take off technique, right. But there was another bright performance from 20 year old Tullamore athlete James Nolan in the semi finals of the 800 metres championship.

Although he was always running well off the pace, he revealed admirable strength and tenacity in finishing fourth in 1 minute 48.75 seconds. The race was won by the Dutch runner, Marko Koers.