Sonia O'Sullivan is still undecided if she will attempt to win the world cross-country championship for the second time in three years in Portugal in March.

O'Sullivan, currently training at altitude in northern Australia, said yesterday that a decision on whether she competes in the Algarve depends on how well she runs on her return to track competition next month.

At the moment she has committed herself to just two track races in Australia, a 5,000 metres in Sydney on February 13th and a 10,000 metres event in the city's pristine Olympic stadium 11 days later.

Only then will she decide whether to run a third race on March 2nd, shortly before she is due to return to Europe to hone her preparations for the Olympic Games, starting in September.

"If I decide to run the crosscountry championship, I will be skipping that March 2nd date," she said. "Obviously, the prospect of having another go at the crosscountry is attractive but that must depend on first how my training goes and then how I make out in the track races.

"Of all the races I will run in the first half of the year that 10,000 metres in Sydney will be one of the most important. It will be part of the Australian national championships and the plan at the moment is that the meeting will take place in the new Olympic stadium.

"It would be nice to compete there before the Games in September but the real point of the exercise is to get a qualifying time for the 10,000 and then put it out of my mind until much later in the year.

"At this point, I'm still learning the event. And while it was good to win my first race at the distance in the European championships in Budapest, I've still got a lot of homework ahead of me."

With Catherina McKiernan recuperating from an ankle injury, the Irish selectors would relish the return of the former champion to lead the cross-country team and hopefully make a big input into the race for the individual title.

O'Sullivan spent three weeks in altitude training at Victoria Creeks before returning to celebrate Christmas and the New York in Melbourne. Since then she has gone back to Victoria Creeks and plans to remain there until the end of the month.

Canoeing: Ian Wiley, who is training in Australia in the run-up to the Olympic Games, received a boost at the weekend when he finished third in a world-class K1 field on Saturday.

The first Australian Championships held at the new Olympic venue at Penrith was won by Britain's Paul Ratcliffe, with Scott Shipley of the United States second and Wiley close behind.

Wiley, who has been among the top three kayakers in the world but had an up-and-down year in 1999, indicated he was pleased with his performance: "It is very early in the season but I am feeling like my old self and training is going well."

Boxing: Lennox Lewis took 10 years to unify the world heavyweight championship - and now he is in serious danger of losing his WBA title without throwing a punch.

London-born Lewis, who added the WBA and IBF belts to his WBC title when he beat American Evander Holyfield in November, is not prepared to fight WBA number one contender Henry Akinwande.

Lewis is hoping the Nigerian will not be able to mount a challenge because he is suffering from Hepititis B - and in that case the British boxer will defend his title against the winner of Holyfield and another American John Ruiz.

"Lennox has already beaten Akinwande when he was disqualified for not giving of his best, and there is no interest in putting on a return," said Lewis' promoter Panos Eliades. "Lennox has said he won't fight him again."

Lewis, meanwhile, could have his first fight in London in nearly six years when, plans permitting, he defends his IBF title against American-based New Zealander David Tua on July 15th.