Then in the 1,500m, she came second last in her heat and thus failed to even qualify for a crack at the medals. It proved a difficult blow from which to recover and in 1997 she turned her attentions indoors . . . where she won silver to Gabriela Szabo's gold in the 3,000m at the World Indoors . . .and to cross-country as she attempted to rebuild her confidence.

Her outdoor form remained indifferent, however, and an eighth-place finish in the 1,500m final at the World Championships confirmed that her form had slipped considerably.

The Sonia who appeared for the 1998 season, however, immediately looked to have regained some of her old verve and a fantastic double victory . . .short and long course . . . at the World Cross-Country Championship in Marrakech suggested that she was making a comeback. The European Championships in Budapest hung like a carrott at the end of the summer. However, race scheduling denied her the opportunity to attempt a 1,500m/5,000m double. Instead, O'Sullivan entered the 5000m and 10,000m, despite never having never run the latter event before on the track. Favourite to win over 25 laps was Fernanda Ribeiro, the tough Portuguese competitor, but O'Sullivan's trademark kick saw her run the final 200m in a blistering 28.1 seconds as she burned off the challenge of Ribero and Romanian Lidia Simon.

Four days later, Szabo, so often O'Sullivan's arch rival, stood in her way in the 5,000m but again O'Sullivan produced an excellent finish to secure a second gold medal and confirm her return to form. After a difficult couple of seasons the Cobh woman was back to her best, a fact confirmed when O'Sullivan won 5,000m gold at the World Cup event held in Johannesburg a month later.

It proved to be a rich vein of form which she maintained right through to a 5,000m silvermedal winning performance at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.