Sonia O'Sullivan

Sonia O'Sullivan
	O'Sullivan in 2017
Personal information
Born	28 November 1969 (age 54); Cork, Ireland
Relative	Sophie O'Sullivan (daughter)
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing Ireland
Olympic Games
World Championships
European Championships
World Cross-Country Championships
World Indoor Championships
Summer Universiade
World Cup

Sonia O'Sullivan (born 28 November 1969) is an

2000 m world record of 5:25.36, set in 1994 stood until 2017.^[2]

O'Sullivan first came to prominence when winning the

World Cross Country Champion

.

O'Sullivan won silver medals in the 5000 m and 10,000 m 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 200 m splits in some of her races.^[3]

She is one of two women (the other Tirunesh Dibaba) who won the short and long course World Cross Country title at the same championship (1998 in Marrakesh).^[4]

Early career

Born in Cobh, County Cork, O'Sullivan was educated in St Marys National School Cobh and Cobh Community College. She completed her leaving certificate in 1987. 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 Villanova University in the US, 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.

She won the Honda Sports Award as the nation's top female cross country runner in 1991–92.^[5]^[6]

In 1992, O'Sullivan improved her personal bests in a number of distances between

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.

1993–1995

1993

During 1993, O'Sullivan established herself as one of the world's top middle-distance runners. By the time the World Championships came around, she was the clear favourite for both the 3000 m and 1500 m. However her hopes in the 3000 m were dashed by the performances of three Chinese athletes who would later in the year go on to smash the world record multiple times. The winner, Qu Yunxia, finished in a championship record of 8:28.71, with Zhang Linli and Zhang Lirong following in second and third respectively. A month later Qu would go on to set a 1500 m world record of 3:50.46. O'Sullivan finished the race 4th in a time of 8:33.8. Six days later she won the silver medal in the 1500 m in a time of 4:03.48, again behind a Chinese athlete. Five days after the championships, at the ISTAF meet in Berlin, O'Sullivan recorded the season's best time over 5000 m of 14:45.92, which moved her to third on the all-time world list. Soon afterwards she closed the year by winning the Grand Prix Final for the 3000 m and finished 2nd in the Mile. She finished the Grand Prix season in 2nd place in the Woman's Overall competition.

1994

During 1994, O'Sullivan dominated international distance running. She set the fastest time of the year in four events, the 1500 m, 1 mile, 2000 m and 3000 m, and the second fastest time in the 5000 m. On 8 July, at Edinburgh, she broke the 2000 m world record, setting a new time of 5:25.36. This record stood until Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia broke it on 7 February 2017. The next week, in London, she broke the European record for the 3000 m, beating Britain's Yvonne Murray, and setting the year's fastest time of 8:21.64. This moved her to fifth on the all-time world list, behind the four Chinese runners who had set their personal bests at the 1993 National Championships in Beijing. This record lasted until 2002, when Gabriela Szabo bettered it. Only three days later, at Nice, O'Sullivan recorded the year's fastest 1500 m, a personal best, of 3:59.10, and only four days after that, she won the mile at the Bislett Games in Oslo, in a time of 4:17.25. This was the season's best, and it moved O'Sullivan to fourth on the all-time world list. All four of these times were also new Irish records, and after this two-week period of record breaking, O'Sullivan became a clear favourite to win any event she chose to compete in at the European Athletics Championships in Helsinki in August. At Helsinki, O'Sullivan elected to only contest the 3000 m, with her main opposition expected to come from Yvonne Murray. In the final, on 10 August, Murray set the pace with O'Sullivan on her shoulder. With 200 m to go, O'Sullivan surged past Murray to win easily in 8:31.84. O'Sullivan followed this with a win over 5000 m in the Grand Prix final in Paris on 3 September. She finished the Grand Prix season in 3rd place in the Woman's Overall standings. At the end of a long season, on 9 September, the tired O'Sullivan finished only fifth in the 1500 m at the World Cup in London.

1995

O'Sullivan continued to dominate international distance running in 1995. As she had done in 1994, O'Sullivan set the fastest time of the year in four events, the 1500 m, 1 mile, 2000 m and 3000 m, and the second fastest time in the 5000 m. O'Sullivan was the winner of 11 of the 12 races in which she competed over 1500 m or 1 mile during 1995. These victories included the only sub-4-minute 1500 m time recorded during the year, a new Irish record of 3:58.85 set at the Herculis meet in Monaco on 25 July. In the 3000 m, O'Sullivan was clearly in a class above her rivals, winning all five of her races, and producing four of the six fastest times, including the year's fastest time of 8:27.57 at the Weltklasse meet in Zürich on 16 August. Her other 3000 m victories included the Bislett Games in Oslo on 21 July, and the Grand Prix final in Monaco on 9 September. O'Sullivan was left with the dilemma leading up to the World Championships at Gothenburg, of whether to compete in the 1500 m or the 5000 m. She had been unbeaten at 5000 m before Gothenburg, although the fastest time of the year, a new world record, had been set by Portugal's Fernanda Ribeiro. In the end, O'Sullivan chose the 5000 m, and, after easily winning her heat on 10 August, she kicked clear of Ribeiro in the final two days later, to win the world title in 14:46.47. Three weeks later, on 1 September, at the ISTAF meeting in Berlin, O'Sullivan again battled over 5000 m with the new world record holder Ribeiro, and again O'Sullivan was victorious, winning in a time of 14:41.40, a new Irish record, and the third fastest 5000 m of all time. For the fourth year in a row, she won the Grand Prix Final, this time over 3000 m.

1996–1997

Although she was not as dominant as she had been in 1994 and 1995, Sonia O'Sullivan continued to be a major force in 1996 at the distances between 1500 m and 5000 m. Her best event in 1996 was the 3000 m, where she was unbeaten for the third successive year, winning all five of her races. O'Sullivan produced the early season leading time of 8:42.40 in Eugene on 26 May, and then at Nice, on 10 July, she recorded the year's fastest time of 8:35.42. In the 1500 m, only two women broke 4 minutes during the year, one of whom was O'Sullivan, who clocked her best time of 3:59.91 when winning at the Bislett Games in Oslo on 5 July. In terms of preparation for the Olympic Games held later that year in Atlanta, O'Sullivan's best event appeared to be the 5000 m, the distance at which she was the reigning world champion. On 5 June, at the Golden Gala meet in Rome, O'Sullivan won in 14:54.75. A month later, on 12 July, at the Securicor Games in London, she beat a strong field to win in 14:48.36. The program at the Olympic Games in Atlanta was sufficiently scheduled to allow O'Sullivan to contest both the 5000 m and 1500 m events. Her early season form and world title the previous year had made her one of the favourites for the 5000 m; however, news of double-world record holder Wang Junxia competing made many observers revise their opinion. In the heats everything seemed on track when she easily won her heat in 15:15.80. However, in the final on 28 July, she was badly affected by a stomach upset, and after starting well gradually faded away and failed to finish. The race was won by 3000 and 10,000 m world record holder Wang Junxia of China. Her disappointment continued in the 1500 m, where, still weakened, she came second last in her heat and failed to qualify for the semi-finals.

O'Sullivan competed in her first indoor competition for five years at the

IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics in Paris in March 1997. Prior to that meeting, O'Sullivan had travelled to Australia to get some early season competition in the Australian domestic outdoor season. O'Sullivan recorded her best result in Canberra, on 11 January, where she won a 5000 m race in 15:10.98. She had entered both the 1500 m and 3000 m at the World Indoors, but eventually she chose to only contest the 3000 m event. In the final, on 8 March, O'Sullivan hit the lead in the last lap, but she was overtaken by Romanian Gabriela Szabo who went on to narrowly defeat O'Sullivan in 8:45.75 compared to the Irishwoman's second place time of 8:46.19. At the World Cross Country Championships she finished 9th but helped Ireland win the bronze medal in the Team Event. O'Sullivan had an indifferent outdoor season in 1997, and her best time of 8:53.53 over 3000 m, which she achieved in Paris on 25 June, was 7 seconds slower than the time she had set indoors in March. Similarly, her best performance at 5000 m for the year remained the time she had set in Australia in January. At the World Championships held in Athens

, O'Sullivan produced her best 1500 m time of the year of 4:05.31 when she finished fourth in her semi-final on 3 August. In the final, held two days later, O'Sullivan was never a serious threat, and she finished 8th in 4:07.81. O'Sullivan had even greater disappointment in the 5000 m where she was the defending world champion, finishing only 7th in her heat and failing to qualify for the final.

1998–1999

O'Sullivan made an impressive comeback in 1998. At the World Cross-Country Championships at

Marrakech

in March, she entered both the short course (4 km) and long course (8 km) events. On successive days, O'Sullivan won both events, and her 4 km time of 12:20 was 14 seconds ahead of her nearest rival. O'Sullivan continued this form into the track season, where her performances in the 1500 m, 3000 m and 5000 m were close to those she had produced at her peak in 1994 and 1995.

At the

BUPA Great North Run

.

O'Sullivan took a break from competition for most of 1999, during which time she gave birth to her daughter, Ciara, on 10 July 1999. O'Sullivan returned to training 10 days after her daughter's birth, and on 10 October, finished a half marathon in 70:05.^[citation needed]

On October 17, O'Sullivan won the Bupa Loughrea Run 99, in Loughrea, Co Galway with a world record 5 mi finishing time of 24:27.

2000–2002

With the prospect of competing at her third

Track and Field Olympic Medalist since John Treacy took silver in Los Angeles in 1984. In the 10,000 m final, held on 30 September, O'Sullivan set another personal best and national record when finishing sixth in 30:53.37 performance. Shortly after the Olympics, she won the Grand Prix Final 3000 m. Following the Olympics, O'Sullivan made her marathon

debut, winning the Dublin marathon in a time of 2:35:42 on 30 October.

In March 2001, O'Sullivan decided to compete in the World Indoor Championships. She finished 7th in the 3000 m and 9th in the 1500 m. After this she took a break from athletics to give birth to her second daughter, Sophie.

O'Sullivan returned in March 2002 for the World Cross Country Championships, being held in Dublin. She finished a respectable 7th in the Short Race, and led Ireland to Team Bronze. At the European Championships in Munich later that year, O'Sullivan attempted a defence of the two European golds she had won in 1998. In the 10,000 m she won silver in a national record of 30:47.59. O'Sullivan admitted she had been outclassed in the race by

BUPA Great North Run

title in a national record time of 67:19.

2003–2009

After an impressive 2002 season, O'Sullivan had a disappointing 2003. She started well with a win at the newly inaugurated

World Championships

in Paris later that month she was considered a possible medalist. She qualified very comfortably from her heat. However, in the final she finished last of the 15 starters. In December she finished an impressive fourth at the European Cross-Country Championships, and lead Ireland to silver in the team event.

2004 was to be an even more disappointing season for O'Sullivan. She struggled to find her best form throughout the year. At the Olympic Games in Athens, she qualified for the final of the 5000 m. However, in the final, O'Sullivan, who was suffering from an illness, finished last of the 14 finishers, well over a lap behind the winner Meseret Defar. She was given a hero's reception by the crowd as she completed her last lap. It was one of the more poignant moments of the 2004 Games. In November, O'Sullivan finished an impressive 4th in the World Half-Marathon Championship in Delhi.

In April 2005, O'Sullivan ran the

World Championships in Helsinki

.

In January 2006, O'Sullivan applied for

dual citizenship, which would allow her to compete for both Ireland and Australia. This request was granted and she intended to represent Australia at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne

, but to represent Ireland in all other competitions. She was chosen for the Australian Commonwealth team for the 5000 m. However, she wasn't able to compete due to a hamstring injury.

On 14 February 2007, O'Sullivan said she planned to retire after the Great Ireland Run on 15 April, having said the previous year that she planned to run competitively until the 2012 Olympics in London. She later confirmed that she would retire at the end of the 2007 season.

In March 2008, O'Sullivan was appointed team manager of the Australian team for the 2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh, Scotland.^[7] In 2009, she ran the Cork City Marathon,

2010–present

In 2012, O'Sullivan carried the Olympic flame when it arrived in Dublin on 6 June. She carried the flame onto St Stephen's Green and lit an Olympic cauldron. O'Sullivan was made chef de mission for Team Ireland at the 2012 Olympic Games.

O'Sullivan completed the 2013 Ealing Half Marathon in 1:27:28.^[8]

Personal life

Sonia's father John played as a goalkeeper for

Cobh Ramblers football team. He had been in the Irish Navy.^[9]

Sonia is married to Nic Bideau and lives in Melbourne, Australia,

Espoo, Finland.^[12] Sonia has written two books "Running To Stand Still" published in 2001 and "Sonia My Story" in 2008. Sonia frequently commentates for RTÉ during World & European Championship Athletics. Sonias mother Mary died in 2023. <refSONIA O'SULLIVAN

. 1 April 2012.</ref>

Personal bests

800 metres – 2:00.69 (July 1987)
1000 metres – 2:34:66 (July 1993)
1500 metres – 3:58.85 (July 1995)
Mile run – 4:17.25 NR (July 1994)
2000 metres – 5:25.36 NR (WR 1994–2017) (July 1994)
3000 metres – 8:21.64 NR (ER 1994–2002)^[13] (July 1994)
2 miles – 9:19.56 NR (WR 1998–2007)^[14]
(June 1998)

5000 metres – 14:41.02 NR (September 2000)
10,000 metres – 30:47.59 NR (August 2002)
10 miles road — 51:00.00 WB (8 September 2002)^[15]^[16]

Half marathon – 67:19 (October 2002)
Marathon – 2:29:01 (April 2005)

International competitions

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event
Representing Ireland
1988	World Junior Championships	Sudbury, Canada	heats	3000 m
1990	European Championships	Split, Yugoslavia	11th	3000 m
1991	Universiade	Sheffield, United Kingdom	1st	1500 m
1991	Universiade	Sheffield, United Kingdom	2nd	3000 m
1992	Olympic Games	Barcelona, Spain	4th	3000 m
1993	World Championships	Stuttgart, Germany	2nd	1500 m
1993	World Championships	Stuttgart, Germany	4th	3000 m
	European Championships	Helsinki, Finland	1st	3000 m
	World Cup	London, United Kingdom	5th	1500 m
1995	World Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	1st	5000 m
1996	Olympic Games	Atlanta, United States	heats	1500 m
1996	Olympic Games	Atlanta, United States	DNF (final)	5000 m
1997	World Indoor Championships	Paris, France	2nd	3000 m
	World Cross Country Championships	Turin, Italy	9th
	World Championships	Athens, Greece	8th	1500 m
	World Championships	Athens, Greece	heats	5000 m
1998	World Cross Country Championships	Marrakech , Morocco	1st	short race
	World Cross Country Championships	Marrakech , Morocco	1st	long race
	European Championships	Budapest, Hungary	1st	5000 m
	European Championships	Budapest, Hungary	1st	10,000 m
	World Cup	Johannesburg, South Africa	1st	5000 m
2000	World Cross Country Championships	Vilamoura, Portugal	15th	short race
	World Cross Country Championships	Vilamoura, Portugal	7th	Long race
	Olympic Games	Sydney, Australia	2nd	5000 m
	Olympic Games	Sydney, Australia	6th	10,000 m
2001	World Indoor Championships	Lisbon, Portugal	9th	1500 m
	World Indoor Championships	Lisbon, Portugal	7th	3000 m
	World Cross Country Championships	Ostend, Belgium	DNF	Short race
2002	World Cross Country Championships	Dublin, Ireland	7th	short race
	World Half Marathon Championships	Brussels, Belgium	14th
	European Championships	Munich, Germany	2nd	5000 m
	European Championships	Munich, Germany	2nd	10,000 m
2003	World Championships	Paris, France	15th	5000 m
2003	European Cross Country Championships	Edinburgh, United Kingdom	4th
2004	Olympic Games	Athens, Greece	14th	5000 m
2004	World Half Marathon Championships	New Delhi, India	4th

References

^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Sonia O'Sullivan". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020.
^ "Lover | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts.
^ "Sonia O'Sullivan Interview on Marathon Talk Podcast". 17 June 2015.
^ "No longer a "little girl", Tirunesh Dibaba is ready to make history in Helsinki". www.worldathletics.org. 2 August 2005. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
^ "Cross Country". CWSA. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
^ "Villanova Athletics' Academic History". Villanova University Athletics. 18 August 2001. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
^ Johnson, Len: Irish star O'Sullivan will lead the way, The Age, 10 March 2008.
^ "Ealing Half Marathon-the results". Ealing Today. 30 September 2013. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
^ Irish Independent, Brief bio of Sonia
^ News article on RSVP Live.
^ "Ireland's Sarah Healy wins her second gold medal and smashes record in the 1500m at European Championships". Irish Independent. 8 July 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
^ "Cobh's Sophie O'Sullivan confirms her potential by winning European gold". 16 July 2023.
^ "European Top 30 allt Women". European Athletics Statistics. Archived from the original on 27 June 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
^ "All-time women's best 2 mile race". Peter Larsson. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
^ "Sonia O'SULLIVAN | Profile | World Athletics". www.worldathletics.org. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
^ "O'Sullivan carves up World 10 Mile best in Portsmouth | NEWS | World Athletics". www.worldathletics.org. Retrieved 10 August 2021.

External links

Sonia O'Sullivan at World Athletics
Sonia O'Sullivan at
Olympedia

Sonia O'Sullivan at Olympics.com

Awards
Preceded by Jackie Joyner-Kersee	1995	Succeeded by Svetlana Masterkova
Sporting positions
Preceded by Wang Junxia	Women's 3,000 m Best Year Performance 1994 – 1996	Succeeded by Gabriela Szabo
Preceded by Elana Meyer	Women's 5,000 m Best Year Performance 1993	Succeeded by Yelena Romanova
Olympic Games
Preceded by Francie Barrett	Flagbearer for Ireland Sydney 2000	Succeeded by Niall Griffin

[1] Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Sonia O'Sullivan". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020.

[2] "Lover | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts.

[Marathon_Talk-3] "Sonia O'Sullivan Interview on Marathon Talk Podcast". 17 June 2015.

[4] "No longer a "little girl", Tirunesh Dibaba is ready to make history in Helsinki". www.worldathletics.org. 2 August 2005. Retrieved 4 February 2020.

[5] "Cross Country". CWSA. Retrieved 29 March 2020.

[6] "Villanova Athletics' Academic History". Villanova University Athletics. 18 August 2001. Retrieved 29 March 2020.

[7] Johnson, Len: Irish star O'Sullivan will lead the way, The Age, 10 March 2008.

[8] "Ealing Half Marathon-the results". Ealing Today. 30 September 2013. Retrieved 27 June 2015.

[9] Irish Independent, Brief bio of Sonia

[10] News article on RSVP Live.

[11] "Ireland's Sarah Healy wins her second gold medal and smashes record in the 1500m at European Championships". Irish Independent. 8 July 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2018.

[12] "Cobh's Sophie O'Sullivan confirms her potential by winning European gold". 16 July 2023.

[13] "European Top 30 allt Women". European Athletics Statistics. Archived from the original on 27 June 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2015.

[14] "All-time women's best 2 mile race". Peter Larsson. Retrieved 26 June 2015.

[15] "Sonia O'SULLIVAN | Profile | World Athletics". www.worldathletics.org. Retrieved 10 August 2021.

[16] "O'Sullivan carves up World 10 Mile best in Portsmouth | NEWS | World Athletics". www.worldathletics.org. Retrieved 10 August 2021.

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v t e World champions in women's 3000 metres and 5000 metres
3000 metres (1980–1993)	1980: Birgit Friedmann (FRG) 1983: Mary Decker (USA) 1987: Tetyana Dorovskikh (URS) 1991: Tetyana Dorovskikh (URS) 1993: Qu Yunxia (CHN)
5000 metres (1995–present)	1995: Sonia O'Sullivan (IRL) 1997: Gabriela Szabo (ROU) 1999: Gabriela Szabo (ROU) 2001: Olga Yegorova (RUS) 2003: Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH) 2005: Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH) 2007: Meseret Defar (ETH) 2009: Vivian Cheruiyot (KEN) 2011: Vivian Cheruiyot (KEN) 2013: Meseret Defar (ETH) 2015: Almaz Ayana (ETH) 2017: Hellen Obiri (KEN) 2019: Hellen Obiri (KEN) 2022: Gudaf Tsegay (ETH) 2023: Faith Kipyegon (KEN)
Note: In 1995, the 3000 m was replaced by the 5000 m.

v t e European Athletics Championships champions in women's 3000 metres and 5000 metres
3000 m (1974–94)	1974: Nina Holmén (FIN) 1978: Svetlana Ulmasova (URS) 1982: Svetlana Ulmasova (URS) 1986: Yvonne Murray (URS) 1990: Yvonne Murray (GBR) 1994: Sonia O'Sullivan (IRL)
5000 m (since 1998)	1998: Sonia O'Sullivan (IRL) 2002: Marta Domínguez (ESP) 2006: Marta Domínguez (ESP) 2010: Elvan Abeylegesse] (TUR) 2012: Olga Golovkina (RUS) 2014: Meraf Bahta (SWE) 2016: Yasemin Can (TUR) 2018: Sifan Hassan (NED) 2022: Konstanze Klosterhalfen (GER)

USTFCCCA Collegiate Track & Field/Cross Country Athlete Hall of Fame
Class of 2022	Jenny Barringer Ralph Boston Ron Delany Harrison Dillard Suzy Favor Charlie Greene Carlette Guidry DeHart Hubbard Vicki Huber Jackie Johnson Jackie Joyner Sally Kipyego Carl Lewis Gerry Lindgren Randy Matson Ralph Metcalfe Rodney Milburn Bobby Morrow Suleiman Nyambui Billy Olson Merlene Ottey Jesse Owens Mel Patton Steve Prefontaine Meg Ritchie Henry Rono Wilma Rudolph Jim Ryun Erick Walder John Woodruff
Class of 2023	Dyrol Burleson Michael Carter Joetta Clark Michael Conley Sheila Hudson Holli Hyche Edwin Moses Renaldo Nehemiah Sonia O'Sullivan Julie Shea Seilala Sua John Thomas Wyomia Tyus Dave Wottle
Class of 2024	Rosalyn Bryant Regina Cavanaugh Hollis Conway Bill Dellinger Benita Fitzgerald Glenn Hardin Balázs Kiss Marty Liquori Larry Myricks Louise Ritter Karl Salb Amy Skieresz Trecia-Kaye Smith Angela Williams