Thank You Sonia O'Sullivan

PH01

Sorry how the race went for her last night but glad she finished in style. And sad to see that this will be her last Olympics.
She's Ireland's greatest athlete ever. Has made so many sacrifices for this country. Has put herself through great personal shame. But, she has brought fantastic glory for herself and this nation.
Gotta love her!
Thanks Sonia!

napalm@night

yeah at least this time she didnt get another attack of the sh**s in the tunnel...

Amz

napalm@night wrote:

yeah at least this time she didnt get another attack of the sh**s in the tunnel...

Although her husband is attributing her bad performance to a stomach bug or something according to RTÉ sport.

napalm@night

a classic case of... "And Ireland defeats the rest of the world to pick up the last place"...and How proud we should be, that its in the taking part and we are so happy to be here tomfoolery that counts...

Amz

napalm@night wrote:

a classic case of... "And Ireland defeats the rest of the world to pick up the last place"...and How proud we should be, that its in the taking part and we are so happy to be here tomfoolery that counts...

Ah yes another example of an armchair critic at work. What have you contributed to Irish sport recently napalm@night?

Hairy Homer

Yep. She's a legend. Olympic Silver. Several world championship titles, on the track and cross country, and consistent Olympic finalist for 12 years. Ni bheidh a leitheid ann aris, etc etc

She's an example of that compelling feature of sport that you don't always get what you deserve. Nobody deserved a Gold Medal more than she, but it was not to be. On the occasion of her best chance in 1996 a combination of nerves, illness, huge pressure and a typically Irish spat between athletics and Olympic authorities regarding what gear she should wear all combined to see her miss out. She's not the first great athlete not to win Olympic gold and she certainly won't be the last.

Enjoy a long and happy retirement girl. You certainly deserve that.

Just one thing puzzles me. I've been reading Tom Humphries' 'Laptop dancing and the nanny goat mambo' a hilarious account of his year covering Irish sport in 2002--Saipan and all that. In it he states that any time he writes about Sonia O'Sullivan he gets two sorts of letters. One type says:'You were quick to criticise Michelle Smith for drugs; how come you're so soft on Sonia?' and the other which says: 'Why do you waste such time on somebody who has "let us down" so often?'

He answers both charges convincingly enough so I won't repeat them here, but it's strange that he doesn't appear to get any letters from people who admire and empathise with her to the same extent as people here obviously do. If anybody knows his e-mail address maybe they should send him a link to this thread.

Beruthiel

napalm@night wrote:

a classic case of... "And Ireland defeats the rest of the world to pick up the last place"...and How proud we should be, that its in the taking part and we are so happy to be here tomfoolery that counts...

Try to consider the fact that this woman was at the top of her sport for many years, winning many a gold medal along the way.
Consider the fact that this country does fuk all to help any person who has half a talent in athletics to go further and if that person wishes to go on with their chosen sport they have to go outside this country in order to train and better their performance. Consider what a pain in the arse it is and how much you have to be committed in order to do it.
Sonia loves what she does, having to admit to yourself that you have passed your ‘best by date’ is a difficult thing to do especially if you love it and don’t want to stop.
I think she is to be admired for getting into the final, I understand that she did enter this race because for one last time she wanted to run in the Olympics, she understood it would be her last time. She is still the best we had to offer so why you would say the above is beyond me.
I for one admire her physical and mental strength, she is to be admired.

seamus

Ah at least we can still use that old Golfing chestnut...

When you miss-hit the ball, but it rolls down the fairway, you call it a "Sonia".
Not very attractive, but it gets there in the end.

vorbis

napalm@night wrote:

a classic case of... "And Ireland defeats the rest of the world to pick up the last place"...and How proud we should be, that its in the taking part and we are so happy to be here tomfoolery that counts...

are you all there? I know we're a nation of begrudgers but you seem intent on taking it to a new level. Sonia has been exceptional for Ireland over the last decade. She is one of our best ever athletes who always gave it her all. She has won numerous world and european championships. Last night's race was simply too much for her body. She doesn't deserve snotty remarks from the likes of you. A true champion, thanks Sonia.

napalm@night

I totally agree she is a legend but racing on like the equivalent of a lame leaper when compared with her former success merely serves to dilute her once greatness making her look like some ridiculous insult to the former and indeed great racer she once was..

Critic? nah not quite
Admirer of magnificent sporting success...YES

and no I don't believe its in the taking part, its only in the winning...

napalm@night

vorbis wrote:

Last night's race was simply too much for her body.

See that's all you need to say, green scum from nose here aggress with you totally, retire a champion, and she wouldn't have had to humiliate her legend the way she did coming last I am certainly sure was no fun for a proud athlete....I think she has been simply fantastic for Ireland but better to go out a champion..then to hobble round a course with a body 'unable to cope' like a three legged mule....

Illkillya

As long as shes still good enough to be Ireland's best runner and qualify for the olympic finals then shes more than welcome to represent Ireland. At 34 thats a great achievement. I reckon she could have made that highjump too.

daveirl

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napalm@night

Illkillya wrote:

As long as she's still good enough to be Ireland's best runner and qualify for the Olympic finals then she's more than welcome to represent Ireland. At 34 that's a great achievement.

Fair point... but after all that success it appears not only pointless but demeaning for such an athlete of such success I believe anyway...The trick being to quite while your still ahead...as opposed to after they have all lapped you....

Hairy Homer

napalm@night wrote:

I don't believe its in the taking part, its only in the winning...

What are you? Australian?

It's all about the 'pursuit' of excellence. In the pursuit is the attainment.

Old Baron de Coubertin was on to something way back when.

Who won is only important for pub quiz questions.

Renegade_Archer

Speaking as a sportsman who has struggled to try and reach the Olympic standard, I see Sonia as someone who has overcome ridiculous odds to compete against the World's best; people dont seem to realise how *bloody hard* it is for Irish people just to *reach* the Olympics, never mind take home a medal. Irish athletes, compared to other countries, get *feck all* support, *feck all* coaching, and *feck all* facilities.


IMHO any Irish person who manages to get to the Olympics and compete, even if they dont get a medal, is deserving of my respect.

Dont blame the athletes people, they're doing their damn best. Its the country that is at fault.

napalm@night

daveirl wrote:

This post has been deleted.

Yeah the point being WAS...never mind the attack of the sh*ts in Sydney where she was at her prime...

Valid excuse? winners work hard while losers make excuses....

Pigman II

To right! It's rare enough we get any track athletes who could compete with the best when they come along they should be cherished and celebrated for their achiemevements.

Well done Sonia.

bus77

Ahh it was great to see her running again anyway. I dont care that she came last to be honest. Sonia likes the sport, that's what keeps her going.

napalm@night

glad to see we are all such an ambitious set in here.....and to see that failure in this country is treated with the utmost of glorifying respect.....BRING ON LAST PLACE!

eirebhoy

napalm@night wrote:

then to hobble round a course with a body 'unable to cope' like a three legged mule....

Do you think she actually knew she was going to come last? In the semi final's she got a time of 14:59. You nearly always run faster in the finals. The 3rd place in the actual final got a time of 14:51. Even if she ran a time of 14.59 again last night she would have came 6th out of 14.

This is not like football where players play badly when they could have put in a bit more effort. There is obviously a reason why she dropped off after 2 or 3 laps and ran a minute and a half longer than the night before. You obviously don't know anything about atheletics so don't deserve to slate Sonia on last nights performance.

davelerave

sonia was a great athlete who played by the rules,in an ideal world szabo and the chinese would hand over their gold medals to add to her tally but at least she had the integrity to play fair,set a good example for the youth and didn't go on whining all the time about the medals she was cheated out of

rubberduckey

Napalm@Night you obviously haven't looked at Sonia's event in any great detail.

She ran 14:59 in her qualifier which if she replicated in the final would have equated to 6th place last night. So no, I don't think it was pointless her being at the Olympics. For an athlete like Sonia to run a minute and a half slower in her final compared to her qualifier something had to be awry.

Also Sonia didn't get an attack of the sh*ts in Sydney, she in fact got a Silver medal!!!!!!!!!!! One of the greatest Irish track achievments ever!!!!!!!

Please stop spouting gibberish if you have nothing intelligent to say on the subject

You should really knock the begrudgery on the head.

Sparks

napalm@night wrote:

glad to see we are all such an ambitious set in here.....and to see that failure in this country is treated with the utmost of glorifying respect.....BRING ON LAST PLACE!

You have to love the way that coming in last in an Olympic finals, after beating the rest of the world to get there, is considered to be a failure.
Makes you wonder - do these sideline hurlers apply the same standards to themselves?

daveirl

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bus77

Sonia For President!

Sparks

bus77 wrote:

Sonia For President!

Don't laugh, look at Sebastian Coe....

Amz

napalm@night wrote:

glad to see we are all such an ambitious set in here.....and to see that failure in this country is treated with the utmost of glorifying respect.....BRING ON LAST PLACE!

She came last in the Olympic final, so many other women who ran in the semi finals on Friday night didn't even make it that far. She is to be commended.

I'll ask again napalm@night... how have you contributed to Irish sport recently?

Flukey

Well done Sonia. Last night was not great, but her whole career to date - and there will be more at some level - has had a lot of highlights. She could easily have pulled up at any stage last night, but she kept going, even passing the medal winners as they celebrated to go on for another lap. Her wave to the crowd as she came to the final bend to acknowledge and thank them was great to see. None of them were hurling abuse at her. They appreciated her achievements. Most people do. She can hold her head high and she moves on to the next phase of her career.