THE OLD self-belief had returned to Sonia O'SulIivan's lace after a compelling solo run at the Mardyke on Saturday, which produced the second fastest 3,000 metres time of the season.

Untroubled by opponents who aspired to nothing more than minor roles in the drama, O'Sullivan put some 120 metres of daylight between herself and the closest pursuer, Valeria Vaughan when winning in eight minutes and 40.51 seconds.

Only the champion herself, has covered the distance faster this year, but unlike her 8.39.33 run in Oregon last month, this was achieved by some audacious front running at a stage of her Olympic preparations when some niggling doubts may have begun to surface.

O'Sullivan has been in the winners' enclosure often enough to resist the temptation for hyperbole. Yet, as the evening drew in and a big crowd basked in the reflected glory of the only home success of the meeting, the sense of satisfaction was unmistakable.

"This was my best run of the season so far and it felt good," she said. "I set out to get under 8.40 and had somebody been close enough to push me, I think I would have succeeded. As it was, I was still confident of doing it at the bell but the wind suddenly picked up when I was 300 metres out and in the end, that probably made the vital difference.

"I have always liked running on this track - always got that special bounce which helps so much. This was no exception and with the support of the crowd, it was a very enjoyable race for me."

Then, mindful of other, bigger things in the offing she added: "Perhaps, this is the start of the real racing season. Everybody has been holding back up to now but at some stage, somebody had to make a start. From now on, the season is going to get a lot more competitive but I'm happy with my form. Every race from here on in will be important, but this is a very good kicking-off point.

Sensing that the conditions - which she later likened to running at an indoor meeting - were conducive to a big performance, O'Sullivan strode into the lead from the start with only the Ukranian, Svetlana Mirosnik, at a comfortable remove of some five metres, possessing the conviction to take up the chase.

A first lap of 68.5 seconds was brisk enough to suggest that the champion was in no mood for loitering and by half way, Mirosnik had already begun to recede through the field. At one point, the Irish-American, Cathy McCandless led the pack but eventually, it was Vaughan, drawing heavily on her strength, who emerged in second place on the last circuit. At that point, however, O'Sullivan was only a distant speck as she threw in a last 200 metres of 30.5 seconds to enrich a wholly reassuring performance.

Her next scheduled race is in Oslo in a fortnight's time, but in a sharp departure from the script, she hinted that she may yet have a second run over 5,000 metres before challenging for this title in Atlanta. "It depends on how my training is going and if I feel I need to race again over the distance, but as of now, I would have no reservations about going to the Olympics after running just one 5,000 metres race".

O'Sullivan apart, most of the interest at the meeting focused on the performance of David Matthews in his attempt to re-establish himself as a credible 800 metres contender in Atlanta.

Matthews didn't get the win he coveted and yet his performance in finishing third behind the two Kenyans, Robert Kibet and Francis Rop, held enough merit to suggest that with another couple of hard races, it may yet come right for the UCD athlete.

With 200 metres to go, he appeared to have made the decisive move when he opened up a lead of two metres, but betraying the signs of a man who hasn't performed to pedigree since returning from Australia, he weakened to be overtaken by the Kenyans down the finishing stretch. Kibet was timed at 1 min 46.26 seconds with Matthews at 1.47.26.

Susan Smith of Waterford was credited with career best figures of 24.05 seconds in third place behind Cathy Freeman and Katherine Merry in the 200 metres and there were cheers, too, for Gary Ryan who pushed himself into contention for a place in the Olympic squad with a national record of 10.48 seconds in finishing second to Britain's Allyn Condon in the 100 metres.

Marcus O'Sullivan, competing possibly, for the last time at, a meeting he has graced so often, flattered briefly in the men's 1500 metres but could find nothing extra when the Kenyan, John Kosgei picked up the pace over the last 300 metres.