SONIA O'SULLIVAN is hoping to accelerate her recovery from one of the worst spells of her career with a 1,500 metres win over the British champion, Kelly Holmes, at Sheffield tomorrow.
Determined to prove that her disappointing run in a 3,000 metres race at Paris on Wednesday was a mere aberration of form, she has chosen to oppose Holmes, who beat her in a similar race at Gateshead two years ago.
Also in the field is Regina Jacobs, the American title holder at the distance, whom O'Sullivan beat in an exciting finish to their 2,000 metres race in Cork last Saturday.
Sinead Delahunty will ensure a dual Irish interest in an event which is also likely to feature the Australian, Kate Anderson who beat O'Sullivan earlier in the year and America's Suzy Hutchinson.
Meanwhile, Donovan Bailey could face Michael Johnson in a re-run of their 150 metres `fastest-man' showdown before the end of the season - with Britain's Linford Christie also receiving an invitation.
Bailey, in Britain to run against Christie in Sheffield, revealed talks had taken place between his manager Ray Flynn and interested promoters.
On the home front, there is the promise of some excellent entertainment in the Nestle Tailteann meeting at Tullamore where places in the team for next month's quadrangular schools international fixture will be on offer.
The third annual Mazda-sponsored national track and field league, opens at three venues, Cork, Derry and Belfield tomorrow. The Belfield meeting marks the seasonal debut of DCH's high hurdler, TJ Kearns, while Nenagh's Gary Ryan will be the big attraction at Cork.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/SJQTLMCMMRC2PLALXUKEWWS6HU.png)