Sonia’s Swan Song

(image from The Irish Times)

I was born in Ireland, though my family moved to Canada when I was a toddler. Nevertheless, all of my extended family live there and I still maintain a proud connection to my homeland. So, it was a bit disheartening as well as confusing to read that the great Irish runner Sonia O’Sullivan finished dead last in the women’s 5,000 metres final last night. Just looking at the numbers, I couldn’t figure out what happened.

Then I read this beautiful tribute written by Keith Duggan of The Irish Times.

(By the way, Sonia still ran 16:20.9. My own personal best for 5,000 metres is 24:16. Just to put things into perspective.)