Sonia O’Sullivan: Opportunity knocks at the World Indoors

Not many athletes are getting too worked up about the World Indoor Championships in Portland, Oregon this weekend – especially considering what’s coming down the tracks in Rio this summer. However there is one reason to be quietly excited about Portland compared to some recent championships.

Two years ago, when the last World Indoors were staged in Sopot, Poland, Russia finished second on the medal table, behind the US. Given the widespread and near-systematic doping in Russia revealed in the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) report last November, it’s fair to assume that at least some of those medals were by won by Russian athletes using banned performance-enhancing drugs.

Only this time, in Portland, none of them will be there. The Russian athletics federation remains suspended until such a time as they improve the regulation of doping controls and testing procedures and meet the standards now expected by the IAAF and Wada. Whether they can do that in time for Rio remains to be seen, although the pressure is definitely coming on, and things will have to improve considerably if we are to see any Russian athletes at the Olympics this summer.

There is the potential then for these World Indoors to be a more level running track than recent years, especially as the big finals get underway on Saturday and Sunday. Athletes from around 150 countries are set to compete, although most have sent just a couple of entries.

Ireland is represented by Rose-Anne Galligan, in the 1,500 metres (Mark English was all set for the men’s 800m until an ankle injury forced him to withdraw), and Joe Gough is also one of just six athletes invited for the Masters 800m (featuring the fastest-ranked over 60s in the world).

Arduous task

This will be a big opportunity for Rose-Anne to qualify for a World Indoor final, although even without the Russians, it will be an arduous task. She is currently ranked 14th of the 22 entries, and just nine athletes will compete in the final, on what is that tight six-lane 200m track.

The World Indoors are only a very concise version of the outdoor World Championships, also staged every two years, with all the main events packed into three days competition.

And despite not having a proper indoor running track for many years, Ireland actually boasts an excellent at these championships, ranked 21st on the overall medal table, with 10 medals in total.

Three of those medals were won at the first World Indoors, staged in Indianapolis, in 1987, despite the fact our gold medal favourite, Eamonn Coghlan, tripped and fell in his 1,500m heat, missing out on the final.

Still we won two gold medals and one silver, Marcus O’Sullivan winning that 1,500m, while Frank O’Mara and Paul Donovan went one-two in the 3,000m.

I vividly remember watching those championships, and these three athletes had an enormous impact on me as a young athlete. As it turned out I made my first senior international appearance later that summer, at the 1987 Europa Cup in Portugal, and Marcus, Frank and Paul were all on the same Irish team. It felt completely surreal to be sitting and chatting with these athletes that I so looked up to, that were my heroes, really, and yet to see how welcoming and encouraging they were, not just to me but to all the younger athletes on the team.

I’m convinced that this positive environment helped me to succeed and grow as an athlete. I was the youngest Irish athlete on that team in Portugal, yet I never once felt out of place, and if anything the encouragement of Marcus, Frank and Paul increased my desire to raise my game, justify my team selection. And I ran faster than ever before, finishing third in the 800m, well above most people’s expectations.

A relaxed, comfortable and positive environment is crucial for any athlete looking to get the best out of themselves. There was never any shortage of laughter on these early trips either, and I always looked forward to being a part of that Irish team, travelling to championship events.

From that point of view it’s a pity that more Irish athletes won’t get to experience the World Indoors in Portland this weekend. These championships may not cause much of a stir, even with Portland being one of the central hubs of American athletics, but they offer the chance to shine and gain more experience and confidence, not just on the road to Rio but beyond that too. It’s not all about being the best physically prepared on the big stage, because often times athletes that are more experienced in championships can have a mental edge over many of their competitors on the start line.

Being at any major championship means a lot more time in the warm-up and call room area, a lot more time waiting nervously for the race to get started.

You’re there a full hour or so before your event, going through a series of checks on your gear, shoes and race number. This is a lot of time spent in a confined environment, surrounded by the athletes you’ll be lining up against, trying to save energy while maintaining focus and your race face.

This is a lot of time to be left thinking about what you’re about to do, so it’s important to have a mental routine so that you don’t get distracted. I always took my time changing into my spikes and tying the laces, sticking on the hip numbers, then finally doing some fast strides, with a slow walk back, before taking off for another fast stride, always focusing on good form and relaxed sprinting technique, ready for any pace once the race got started.

It was equally important to neatly place my gear into the baskets at the start line, the slow folding movement helping to calm my mind. Then, just before leaning forward onto the start line, I would always line up my necklace so that the clasp was at the back, and the pendant centred. Some people might call all these little intricacies mere superstition, but for me it was part of the mental routine, the final countdown that got me in the right frame of mind ready to race.

Something new

At no point during that process did I think that any athlete I was lining up against might be using banned performance-enhancing drugs. It just wasn’t part of my mindset because I couldn’t allow it to be. Now the hope is that a lot more athletes can feel that way as they line up for the World Indoors in Portland this weekend.

No one is naive enough to think that some athletes won’t still find the temptation to cheat, but these championships could be start of something new, an era of zero tolerance.

If only because by not being there, the banned Russian athletes offer some evidence of that, and hopefully it serves as a warning to other countries that might still be tempted to test the boundaries of doping that they’re no longer being tolerated.