Sydney a giant stepping stone to further ambitions

It's a wonder sometimes why they haven't awarded any blue riband to the walk. In terms of preparation, this event must be among the more demanding. Technically, the rules are the most ruthless. And to catch any competitor at the finish is a rare glimpse of pure exhaustion

Yet look at the profile and look at the attraction, and race walking has always been in the dark shadow of other athletic events. In fact, it's probably as far away from the 100 metres as it gets. Not that such bias concerns the likes of Gillian O'Sullivan. Just a few minutes talking to her about the road to Sydney, and the zeal and the focus and the pride is that of any world-class athlete.

Already, O'Sullivan is in Sydney capping her preparations for the 20k walk. She may be new to you but she is certainly not new to her event. She has World and European Championship experience behind her - Irish record holder at every distance from 3k to 20k. But at 24, O'Sullivan knows that Sydney is going to be a whole new experience and a giant stepping-stone to ambitions further on the horizon.

"I suppose the walk is very much like marathon running in that you do peak in your late 20's and early 30's. So much of this event depends on the strength and mileage that you build up over the years. But I am lucky enough in that my technique is quite natural. My feet are low to the ground and I don't get a lot of the height when I'm walking. That certainly helps."

There are aspects of O'Sullivan's route to Stadium Australia which deserve attention. Largely self-motivated, there wasn't much of a tradition in Olympic ambitions on the back roads of Minish in Killarney. Like so many of Ireland's current crop of Olympians, the Community Games provided her with the first taste of competition. O'Sullivan liked the walk more than the 800 metres or the relays and once she began to dominate matters from an early age, there was no looking back. She becomes the first Kerrywoman to represent Ireland at the Olympics.

"To be honest, I was confident of getting the time for Sydney but of course you're never sure until you actually get it. But things have gone very well this year. I've avoided injury which always helps and once I got the right race, I knew I was in shape to improve my best by a fair bit."

As it turned out, O'Sullivan cracked the time early, finishing the Isle of Man Grand Prix last February in one hour, 33 minutes 8 seconds - well inside the 1:36 A-standard for Sydney. This will be the first Olympic 20k walk (replacing the 10k distance) and O'Sullivan knows exactly what to expect.

"You try and break it down into 10k and 10k. The first 5k will always go fairly quick but the hardest part is between 10k and 15k when you're starting to get tired. The last 5k is just hang on and go for home.

"And you have to concentrate a lot more on your technique towards the end. Your stride usually gets shorter and you have to keep focused. But that helps keep your mind off the pain as well. You usually end up with one warning in a race but that's usually a good thing. It shows you're going fast but I've been lucky in that I've never been disqualified yet."

Still, any event of such technicality requires an experienced eye. Michael Lane, a Mullingar man with walking expertise to match his enthusiasm, first linked up with O'Sullivan while she was a student at UCC.

At least two or three times a week the training is carefully monitored by the coach - ranging from intervals over 800 metres to a mile - although so much of the work is long tiresome hours out on the road.

For the next five weeks, O'Sullivan will wind down her training at the Irish camp in Newcastle, just north of Sydney. The family will join her come September. Everyone around Minish has been hugely supportive, but of course there are always one or two who expect her to bring home a medal.

"Well, I used to be intimidated by the Chinese and the top Europeans but not anymore. They would be a long way ahead of me as a junior but a lot of them are behind me now. And every time you go to a major championship you're less phased. At first you find yourself looking around and get a bit overawed but eventually you don't care and just get on with your own race. But my times are coming down an awful lot. I want to get under 90 minutes and hopefully by the next Olympics I'll be up there in the top 10 or so."