Olympic 5000 metres silver medallist Sonia O'Sullivan has been pre-selected by Athletics Ireland for next year's IAAF World Indoor Championships.
A strong Irish contingent are expected to compete in the championships at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena from March 14-16th.
Training in Melbourne and planning a few competitions in the Australian sunshine, O'Sullivan has opted to compete over 3000 metres.
In 1997 O'Sullivan was narrowly beaten into second place by her arch rival, Romanian Gabriela Szabo, who also deprived the Irish star of the 5000m gold medal by inches at the Sydney Olympics.
O'Sullivan will also contest the World Cross Country Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland on March 31st where she will bid to replicate her milestone 1998 long and short course victories.
O'Sullivan's hopes of victory remain high after she finished a creditable seventh on the home soil of the Leopardstown racecourse last March three months after the birth of her second daughter, leading the host nation to team bronze medals in the process.
PA
