Sonia O'Sullivan was at the height of her powers at the 1998 European Athletics Championships in Budapest where the Irishwoman displayed some of the most ferocious finishing speed ever seen in women's distance running up until that point.
In the lead-up to Birmingham 2026 from 10-16 August, we are taking a look back at 26 classic moments from the European Athletics Championships, including O'Sullivan's distance double in Budapest 1998.
The background
Everything was going perfectly for Sonia O’Sullivan in the mid-1990s in the build-up to the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
But then the day of the 5000m final arrived and O’Sullivan, who was unbeaten in 1996 prior to the Olympics and the probable favourite for both the 1500m and 5000m titles, was reduced to a standstill by a stomach illness. Just days later and still not sufficiently recovered, a forlorn O’Sullivan exited in the 1500m heats.
O’Sullivan’s 1997 season didn’t bring better fortunes. She had the ignominy of exiting in the 5000m heats as the reigning champion at the World Athletics Championships in Athens but after two seasons in the doldrums, the Irishwoman had rediscovered her Midas touch just in time for the 1998 European Athletics Championships in Budapest.
And her first success in Budapest began by O’Sullivan triumphing in an event which she had previously never contested before: the 10,000m, just the fourth time the event had been on the programme at the European Athletics Championships, an initiative prompted by O’Sullivan after scouring the previous winning times while browsing the aisles of a bookshop in France.
“When I gave Alan [Storey, her coach] the idea he loved it, but Kim [McDonald, her agent] wasn’t so keen. He thought: ‘There’s no way she’ll be able to concentrate on that, she’ll lose concentration in the middle,’” recalled O’Sullivan in an interview with European Athletics in 2020.
What happened?
O’Sullivan might have been a 10,000m novice but the race played out perfectly for her.
As expected, Paula Radcliffe was the long-time leader but the Brit was weakened by the effects of a lingering virus and unable to employ the fearsome front running that would define the 10,000m at the next few major championships. With the last lap approaching and the pace building but still relatively modest, O’Sullivan’s confidence began to grow.
A group of four athletes surged past Radcliffe at the bell, including reigning European and Olympic champion Fernanda Ribeiro from Portugal. O’Sullivan stalked Ribeiro down the back straight, gathering herself for the big move on the top bend.
“There goes O’Sullivan,” exclaimed the legendary BBC commentator David Coleman as soon as the long-legged O’Sullivan shot past Ribeiro. “And in two of three strides, it’s all over.”
In the space of just over 150 metres, O’Sullivan had opened up a winning margin of 20 metres. Ribeiro was also famed for her finishing speed but on this occasion, the Portuguese star was made to look leaden-legged against a turbo-charged and rejuvenated O’Sullivan who strode to victory in 31:29.33, a clear three seconds ahead of Ribeiro in 31:32.42.
The 5000m might have been O'Sullivan's favoured event but the final posed arguably an even tougher test as O'Sullivan faced her redoubtable rival Gabriela Szabo from Romania, her successor as world champion.
But in a reversal to many of the major championship finals she contested in the mid-to-late 1990s, Szabo - who must have been conscious of O’Sullivan’s blistering pace in the 10,000m yet aware she might have the advantage of fresher legs - assumed the role of the front runner, albeit not necessarily a willing one, as O’Sullivan loomed in her slipstream for the duration of the final.
"I refused to go past her," recalled O'Sullivan. "There was one point when Szabo moved out [around the 3km mark] and looked around and she got really annoyed at me because I wouldn’t take the lead but I was like: ‘Hang on a second, this is a race, we’re not trying to help each other.'"
In a near-repeat of the 10,000m, O’Sullivan surged past Szabo with 120 metres remaining, covering the last lap in under 60 seconds to complete a golden distance double, a feat which had only been achieved once in European Athletics Championships history up into that point: by Finland’s Juha Vaatainen in 1971.
In doing so, O’Sullivan also handed Szabo her one and only defeat over 5000m between 1997 and 2000.
The aftermath
Szabo would eventually get her revenge on O’Sullivan in an epic home straight tete-a-tete in the 5000m final at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, the last time they would face each other in a major championships at the height of their respective powers.
O’Sullivan missed the majority of the 2001 season to have her second child before returning to competition in time for the 2002 European Athletics Championships in Munich. She would put up a staunch defence of both titles, ultimately coming away with a pair of silver medals.
O’Sullivan bowed out from major championships racing at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens but the O’Sullivan affiliation with the European Athletics Championships has continued long since hanging up her racing spikes.
Cheered on by Sonia in the stands in a clip which went viral on social media, her second daughter Sophie won silver behind Keely Hodgkinson in the 800m at the 2018 European Athletics U18 Championships in Györ. Having progressed through the US collegiate system, she will be in contention for a place on the Irish team for the 2026 European Athletics Championships in Birmingham.
O’Sullivan has also been a long-time pundit for Irish broadcaster RTE and was part of the team for a triumphant 2024 European Athletics Championships in Rome where Ireland won their first gold medals since O’Sullivan dominated the long distances in Budapest 1998.
Sharlene Mawdsley anchored Ireland to a historic victory in the mixed 4x400m on the opening night of the programme before Ciara Mageean kicked to victory in the women’s 1500m.
