Time for a more fitting Olympic memory

The next-to-last Irish athlete in action in Athens - Marie Davenport - goes to the start line of the 10,000 metres with some personal motivations.

At 29, and with a best of 31:28.78, she is not expected to feature among the leading finishers, but the very fact that she's in Athens is worth trumpeting.

Eight years ago she had practically hung up her spikes when, as Marie McMahon, she was unfairly dragged into an overblown media frenzy surrounding her positive doping test at the Atlanta Olympics.

Then only 21 and still a student at Providence College, she had taken a cold remedy a few days before running the 5,000 metres, where she finished 13th in her heat. Within 48 hours, the Irish newspapers were running a story that she'd failed a drugs test and was facing a four-year ban.

In fact, Davenport had tested for an anti-inflammatory contained in the cold medicine, which was not on the banned list but did require a declaration.

She was reprimanded by the IOC, but never banned, and yet it remains a dark cloud over her whole career. In Athens, she wants to finally remove that cloud and leave behind a better Olympic memory.

"That incident is what everyone remembers me for. And I hate that. I just want to be remembered as a good athlete. It was very difficult for me at the time, and I wouldn't have run again had my family and friends not been so supportive."

Her 31:28.78, run in Stanford last April, still ranks her 16th in the world, and no matter what happens in the Olympic Stadium tonight she'll keep training for the New York marathon in November.

Sonia O'Sullivan will leave Athens this morning, still contemplating her future after last Monday's last-place finish in the 5,000 metres final.

She definitely won't race on the track again this year, and beyond that she says she has "zero plans at the moment".