ATHLETICS: Sonia O'Sullivan never fails to spring a surprise and she had another in store for the athletics followers who came to Santry Stadium yesterday to bear witness to one of the best National Championships seen for many years.

A series of top-class performances unfolded in ideal weather conditions, including a national 400 metres record from a graceful Paul McKee of Belfast in a time of 45.58, while Mark Carroll matched his feat of 1999 when he won the 5,000m and 1,500m, in that order, in a display of great speed and stamina.

But it was O'Sullivan who again captured the imagination of the very appreciative if rather disappointing attendance as she ended up winning a unique double, first regaining her 800m title and then coming out just 21 minutes later and winning the 5,000m by a considerable margin, in a time of 15 minutes 20.11 seconds, which was 10 full seconds inside the qualifying standard for the forthcoming European Championships in Munich.

It was only on her flight from London yesterday morning that she began to think about doing the double. "I wanted to find a place to go for a good long run after the 800m and said to myself why not do so in the 5,000 metres?" she explained afterwards.

So on arrival she telephoned her coach Alan Storey to get his approval. "I think he knew what I was ringing him about and more or less left it up to myself, which was nice of him, and I could not be more pleased about the outcome."

And she had every reason to be delighted, having to put herself out in the last 200m to hold on to her lead to win the 800m in 2:04.91, just fractions slower than when she won the same title in 1992 and again in 2000.

"I have been concentrating on strength work and probably found the early pace a bit fast but it made me work and that was good. I was certainly not looking over my shoulder down the finishing straight," a reference to the fact that Kelly McNiece of Lisburn was breathing down her neck, before claiming a worthy silver medal in 2:06.04.

O'Sullivan was not hanging about to sign autographs as she rushed off to change from her spikes into flat racing shoes to be back on track in time to follow the courageous Ann Keenan-Buckley through the first four laps before taking up the running herself.

"It was very nice of Ann to help out like that and it set up things nicely and when I took the lead I felt strong and smooth. I still had to work a bit but that was good, too, because the very fact that I had such a short rest was just like what you would have in a good training session."

O'Sullivan, by now clear of Una English, lapped at 73 and 74 seconds and with two laps remaining was right on schedule to get the 15:30 necessary for Munich qualification. She kept the rhythm going and then covered the last lap in just under 68 seconds to win almost as she liked, with English second in 15:39.77.

O'Sullivan had planned to go for the standard in Belgium next Saturday but promised "I'm still going there but this time to run a fast time."

Carroll was in a class of his own when winning the 5,000m in 13:43.88 but was still slightly disappointed as he had hoped to get much closer to the 13:32 European standard and felt that he would benefit from running the 1,500m less than two hours later.

That he did and came up with a first class last-lap effort to outkick a field of fresh runners in 3:45.90 as the pre-race favourite, Colm McLean folded to finish fifth. "I feel a bit better now and that is just what I needed," said Carroll, who will be more confident of getting the standard in Belgium.

McKee was majestic when winning the 400m and is now on course for the Commonwealth Games and European Championships. "It was very important for me to run fast here and particularly satisfying to break the record in front of the Irish supporters," said McKee, who won by more than a second from Robert Daly (46.76), while Antoine Burke, the former high jumper, was third in 46.88.

Ciara Sheehy completed a very impressive double in the women's sprints, adding the 100m to the 200m she won on Saturday, in a time of 11.57 seconds. DCH clubmate Karen Shinkins looked a class act when lifting the 400m in 52.34.

David Kelly of Dundrum SD was the surprise winner of the 800m, with the 20-year-old coming out of the pack to win in 1:49.31, with James Nolan fading to third (1:50.79). One of the happiest winners of all was Gary Ryan after he defeated John McAdorey to take the 100m in 10.56. McAdorey had set a championship record of 10.45 in the semi-finals.

Stephen McDonnell of DCH ran a lifetime best when taking the 400m in a smooth 51.45, one of several fine performances.