Sonia O'Sullivan
 |
||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Women's athletics | ||
Representing  Ireland
|
||
| Olympic Games | ||
 |
2000 Sydney | 5000 m |
| World Championships | ||
 |
1995 Gothenburg | 5000 m |
|
1993 Stuttgart | 1500 m |
| European Championships | ||
|
1994 Helsinki | 3000 m |
|
1998 Budapest | 10,000 m |
|
1998 Budapest | 5000 m |
|
2002 Munich | 10,000 m |
|
2002 Munich | 5000 m |
| World Cross-Country Championships | ||
|
1998 Marrakesh | 8 km |
|
1998 Marrakesh | 4 km |
 |
1997 Turin | Team 8km |
|
2002 Dublin | Team 4km |
| World Indoor Championships | ||
|
1997 Paris | 3000 m |
| Summer Universiade | ||
|
1991 Sheffield | 1500 m |
|
1991 Sheffield | 3000 m |
| World Cup | ||
|
1998 Johannesburg | 5000 m |
Sonia O'Sullivan (born 28 November 1969) is an Irish former track and field athlete. She won a gold medal in the 5000 metres at the 1995 World Championships, and a silver medal in the 5000 metres at the 2000 Olympic Games. Her 2000m world record of 5:25.36 set in 1994, still stands.
O'Sullivan first came to prominence when winning the 1500m at the 1991 Universiade, before going on to finish fourth in the 3000m final at the 1992 Olympic Games. She then won a silver medal in the 1500m at the 1993 World Championships. She was the favourite for the 5000m title at the 1996 Olympic Games but dropped out of the final due to illness. As well as her 1995 World title, she won three gold medals at the European Championships; in the 3000m (1994), 5000m (1998) and 10,000m (1998), and is a two-time World Cross Country Champion.
O'Sullivan won silver medals in the 5000m and 10'000m at the 2002 European Championships, and competed at her fourth Olympic Games in 2004. She is known for her dramatic kick, clocking 28-second final 200m splits in some of her races.
Born in Cobh, County Cork, O'Sullivan's first major international competition was the 1990 European Championships at Split, where she finished 11th in the 3000 m. However, O'Sullivan improved quickly after that, and on 26 January the following year, at Boston, she set a new world indoor record in the 5000 m of 15:17.28, taking more than 5 seconds off the old record. At the time, O'Sullivan (who attained a sporting scholarship) was studying accountancy at the Villanova University in the USA, and at the World Student Games at Sheffield in July 1991, she won the 1500 m Gold Medal in 4:12.14, and the Silver Medal in the 3000 m in 8:56.55. At the start of 1992, she finished 7th in the World Cross Country Championships. In 1992, O'Sullivan improved her personal bests in a number of distances between 800 m and 5000 m, setting six Irish national records in the process, including five in the space of 11 days in mid-August following the Barcelona Olympic Games. At Barcelona, in the 3000 m final, O'Sullivan was always in contention, and hit the lead in the back straight on the final lap, but she was eventually outsprinted and finished fourth. Narrowly missing out on an Olympic medal was made all the more frustrating when the silver medalist from the race Tatyana Dorovskikh tested positive for a banned substance the following year.[1] In the 1500 m, she finished only 11th in her semi-final and did not qualify for the final. She finished 1992 by winning the Grand Prix Final for the 5000 m.
...
Wikipedia