"Support Sonia" the banners proclaimed on the road to Cobh, her native town to which the new Olympic medallist has often returned in triumph.
In the town itself, tricolours waved limply on a wet, grey dismal day with fog rolling in from the sea, not a portent, as it turned out, of the silver moment to come.
John Mansworth's pub was where her late grandfather, Mick Shealy, used to go for his daily pint, sometimes accompanied by a young Sonia, and it was there a huge crowd gathered yesterday to await developments in Sydney.
The discussion swayed to and fro in the bar and the only question was what colour the medal would be. Nobody would countenance a defeat for Cobh's most famous daughter and it was generally agreed that she had put the bad times of Atlanta well behind her. There were some words of derision for Eamon Coghlan, the former runner, who had written her off. "Don't mind him, he hasn't a clue what he's talking about," summed up the view of Coghlan among the early morning pinters. As the moment for the off arrived, the excitement in the bar soared.
As the race began, there was loud cheering and clapping, but as far as the customers were concerned, this was a one-woman race. At various intervals, O'Sullivan caused hearts to flutter even among her most ardent fans when she appeared to be lagging behind the field at crucial junctures. George Hamilton's commentary from Sydney in which he spoke about moments of destiny didn't help, but still the Mansworth customers kept cheering as the pints were downed ever faster - a sure sign of anxiety.
Then, the moment of destiny did arrive and O'Sullivan had to dig deep to stay on the heels of her great rival, Gabriela Szabo. The atmosphere in the pub was electric as the two headed down the straight for either silver or gold. It was to be silver for Sonia but that didn't matter, as people in the pub cheered and kissed one another with obvious pride.
At her home in Ballynoe Muse, Sonia's aunt, Frances Shealy, dared to peep at the television only in the dying seconds of the race. She cried with joy as she described how she couldn't bear to look at the television in case something might go wrong. "Then I looked as the race was finishing and I can't describe my feelings. It was just wonderful. She is a truly wonderful girl and I just love her to bits. She was just brilliant and she has nothing left to prove. Sonia always telephones me sometime after a race, so I'm waiting to hear from her. I'm so proud of her I just cannot express it in words," she said.