Sonia: `I never once lost concentration'

This time, there were no embarrassed escapes down the tunnel, no phantom press conferences at the end of the night's tumult.

Sonia O'Sullivan was triumphant again and she made her way from the track, like a queen coming to court.

The television interviews lasted what seemed like a lifetime but now we knew for certain, that however long we might have to wait, we would have an interviewee at the end.

There is no more powerful linament than success, nothing to banish the pain from tired legs like a gold medal. And now O'Sullivan was perfectly composed and ready to dwell for as long as we liked, on the drama which had just unfolded before our eyes.

"Yes, this was the race when it all came together for me for the first time this season and the feeling is great," she proclaimed. Others may have had their doubts but this was a success that had been planned from a long way back.

"I couldn't believe it was so easy in the end but there were definitely times in there when it got a bit tough. I talked myself through the race many times before and now, things were falling into place perfectly.

"I was counting four laps and saying to myself - that's a mile and I now have only five to go. Then once I got to halfway, I felt that this was my now area and I told myself: `You can't lose from here'.

"I suspected there was a point between 6,000 and 9,000 metres when it was going to get tough. Then I got to the 6,000 mark and I was fully prepared. It got hard, it got easy, it got hard again but there were enough people up there to make it a race.

"If there had been just Paula and Ribeiro it would have been easier for them to get away. I'd never been beyond 8,000 metres except in training but as it transpired the extra journey wasn't as difficult as i feared.

`'I did not think about winning. It would have been something else on my mind to distract me. But everything continued to fall into place. I was determined to win whatever it took and I was going to give it everything over those last 200 metres.

"No, I never once lost concentration. I was watching the numbers on those in front of me and this time I could see them. You could say that it was a night when I really enjoyed myself."

Inevitably, somebody broached the question of her now running the 5,000 metres which is due to start tomorrow morning. Yes, she confided, it was highly probable that she would but that was another day's work.

"I'll think about that in the morning but just now, I'm going to enjoy this success. I think I've worked hard enough for it."

Sonia O'Sullivan had been through too many hours of despair, not to savour the splendour of it all. And those of us who had soldiered with her on other lesser days knew exactly how she felt.