SONIA O'Sullivan's failure to achieve her Olympic goals requires deep examination and gives rise to several questions. Even if a "tummy bug" is the correct explanation for her demise, it is not in itself a viable explanation for her performances.

We were assured by commentators before her races that Sonia O'Sullivan was not suffering from a sports injury, but the accuracy of this claim in part depends on what is meant by a sports injury.

The definition of a sports injury is any "insult" sustained in relation to a sporting activity. For most people the term sports injury means damage to the body, such as muscle, tendon, ligament or joint.

To limit the term to the anatomy alone, however, may mislead since the scope of the true definition is vast.

It includes conditions such as altitude sickness, dehydration due to exercise in the heat, fatigue due to overtraining, low iron stores and low fuel stores due to poor nutrition.

O'Sullivan reported that she had diarrhoea before the heats of the 5000 metres. As a result, she would have lost weight and her urine would have been very concentrated. She would probably have had a fever in the early stages. One of the principal questions arising from this is whether anyone was monitoring her weight and checking her urine concentration?

Furthermore, was anyone checking her temperature regularly? If all this was being done surely it would have alerted Sonia to the dangers of impending illness, dehydration and fatigue.

Her fluid intake would then have been precisely calculated to match her losses through diarrhoea.

Her condition would have been reported to the team medical doctors and medication which is not on the banned list Immodium could have been prescribed. She might have recovered in time for the 1500 metres heats and then the final.

Conversely, if she was in such distress surely she would have been advised not to race. At least her self esteem would still be intact. She would have been genuinely medically unfit to race.

THE inevitable question is how could an athlete of her calibre conceal such an illness? Was she not monitored so closely that even a sneeze would be documented?

For Sonia to have told no one she had diarrhoea is unacceptable.

If she had expert back up from a sports nutritionist the signs of dehydration would have been picked up and it would have been obvious that she was losing fluid from somewhere.

Detailed questions would have been asked about her fluid intake urination and bowel habits. Did anyone pose these questions?

One factor which could have contributed to Sonia's problem is the environmental conditions.

Could the weather have led to her diarrhoea and, if so, how? Atlanta is hot and humid. The temperature regulation of an athlete is tested to its limits.

Dehydration can result in a condition commonly known as the "runner's trots". The blood supply to the bowel is reduced and this results in diarrhoea. But it can be corrected by precise, adequate hydration.

If Sonia was not monitored precisely in terms of her fluid intake versus her losses, it is quite possible that she developed "runner's trots".

She was probably drinking fluid but did she know exactly how much she needed each day? Did she leave enough time to acclimatise to Atlanta? Was she dehydrated on arrival? How did she dehydrate after the heats of the 5000 metres? It is difficult to explain away the fact that she didn't tell anyone. As an elite athlete with strong Olympic medal prospects did she avail regularly of these services in the years leading up to Atlanta?

It is possible that mental stress could have contributed to her bowel problems but again, if any one asked her about her bowel habits, medical intervention could have been sought.

If she was suffering mental stress to this extent, did she spend any time with a qualified sport psychologist?

The pressures on Sonia O'Sullivan in Atlanta were different to those experienced at any other event she has raced. She was built up to win two gold medals and to follow in Michelle Smith's footsteps.

Was it all too much for her? Did she have support from a sports psychologist in the months leading up to Atlanta? Was she advised to revise her plan of thinking when it was announced that she would face Chinese opposition?

These issues arise in the context not alone of Sonia O'Sullivan's disappointment but of the contention with which I can't agree that this is the best prepared team we have ever sent to the Olympics.

The OCI appointed a sports nutritionist, Ms Elaine McGowan to work with the Irish Olympic athletes in the months leading up to the games. She was not taken to Atlanta as part of the team.

The OCI also appointed Dr Aidan Moran as head of a team of sports psychologists. Dr Moran was not taken to Atlanta as parts of the team either.

FOR MANY of our athletes it was a dream to be in Atlanta but how many actually believed they could win?

The experience would have been daunting for the first time Olympian was there anyone there to help them through this?

Sonia was either physically or mentally unfit for her races. To say that Sonia was "fit" for her race because she had no anatomical injury is grossly inadequate.

How are we to develop as a nation in sport if we do not stop and examine what has happened. We are now being told that Sonia had an illness and that is why she didn't perform.

This is far too simple and if we accept this explanation then we have missed a vital opportunity to learn from a tragic lesson.

We are told about Sonia's illness after the races. Yet on the day of her 5000 metre final we were told repeatedly by the Olympic Channel panel that Sonia wasn't "injured" according to sources working with her in Atlanta and therefore she was likely to win a medal.

If, as she says, she had diarrhoea as far back as before the heats of the 5000 metres, then she was "injured" if we take the correct definition of a "sports injury" which is any insult sustained in relation to sporting activity.

Irrespective of what diagnosis is finally decided upon it is reasonable to suggest that those working closely with Sonia were not in a position to spot her "injury".

It is also reasonable to suggest that if she was monitored closely by experts all "injuries" whether anatomical or otherwise would have been spotted and then she would have been referred instantly to the medics or other relevant specialists.

If we don't learn from this it will happen to our best athletes again and again.