Sonia O'Sullivan

Sonia O'Sullivan

O'Sullivan in 2017
Personal information
Born	(1969-11-28) 28 November 1969 (age 54) Cork, Ireland
Relative	Sophie O'Sullivan (daughter)
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 5000 m 1998 Budapest 10,000 m 2002 Munich 5000 m 2002 Munich 10,000 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.^[1] Her 2000 m world record of 5:25.36, set in 1994 stood until 2017.^[2]

O'Sullivan first came to prominence when winning the 1500 m at the 1991 Universiade, before going on to finish fourth in the 3000 m final at the 1992 Olympic Games. She then won a silver medal in the 1500 m at the 1993 World Championships. She was the favourite for the 5000 m 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 3000 m (1994), 5000 m (1998) and 10,000 m (1998), and is a two-time 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]