O'Sullivan yet to decide on fitness

Sonia O' Sullivan has indicated that a final commitment to compete in next month's World Cross-country Championships in Dublin will only be made after her performance at the Irish short course trials on Sunday week.

With just under four weeks to go before the Leopardstown event, O'Sullivan is still a little uncertain of her form having given birth to her second daughter two days before Christmas. The short course trials, which take place at the ALSAA Complex in Dublin on March 10th, have now been laid down as the key benchmark of her fitness.

Over the past two months in Australia she has been gradually increasing her training levels and after an initial test on the track this Saturday night in Melbourne, she will return to her London base early next week ahead of a brief visit to Dublin to participate in the trials.

"The progress up to now has been very good," said O'Sullivan. "I know where I have to be for the World Championships but I have to be realistic as well, and competing in that race will answer a lot of questions for me."

The trials in Dublin take place exactly a fortnight before the championships of March 23rd-24th, and O'Sullivan is satisfied that such a race will provide the perfect examination of her conditioning. She has decided though to rule out the long course race, and the shorter four-kilometre race is her only target.

"You do need a race to give you a realistic guide of your fitness and strength. I've been happy with the training so far and I haven't got sick or injured, but until you're in a race atmosphere it's difficult to really judge where you are.

"And the girls in Ireland are running very well at the moment and it should be very informative for me. I know from past experiences that I improve after a race and will still have another two weeks after that before Leopardstown, and I will be in a much better position afterwards to make a final assessment about the World Crosscountry."

It is now almost certain that the other leading Irish women will follow O'Sullivan's lead and concentrate on the short course event in Leopardstown - which takes place on the Sunday, March 24th. After winning the long course trials so convincingly at the ALSAA Complex on Sunday, Anne Keenan-Buckley has yet to decide if she will also run the short course trial but Rosemary Ryan, who finished runner-up on Sunday, is intending to compete.

O'Sullivan has already had a couple of low-key runs in road races around Melbourne, and on Saturday will run in a local 5,000 metres race on the track for her Australian club. That will also provide the 32-year-old Olympic silver medallist with some indication of her progression, but it's the run in Dublin that will ultimately decide whether or not the world tests are a realistic target.

Athletics Ireland have already pre-selected O'Sullivan for Leopardstown and are obviously keen to secure her participation. And while such a swift return to world- class running was achieved after the birth of her first daughter three years ago, O'Sullivan seems intent to compete in Leopardstown only if she is close to her competitive best.

The course in ALSAA was turned into a river of mud for Sunday's inter-club championships - which also served as the long course trials - but under drier conditions the race is sure to provide O'Sullivan with a useful test of her form.

Her decision to concentrate on the shorter race also rules out a clash with Britain's Paula Radcliffe, who is concentrating solely on the defence of her long course title in preparation for the London Marathon in April.

Meanwhile, injury has forced Daniel Caulfield to withdraw from the 800m at this weekend's European Indoor Championships in Vienna. The Irish indoor record holder had been gearing towards the event all season but two weeks ago chipped a bone on the outside of his right foot, making any sort of running extremely painful - let alone the high speeds required for indoor 800m running.