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O'Sullivan targets 2012 London Olympics

Sonia O'Sullivan is hoping to compete in the 2012 Olympics
Sonia O'Sullivan is hoping to compete in the 2012 Olympics

Irish athlete Sonia O'Sullivan wants to run in the London Olympics in 2012 - when she's 43.

The Co Cork runner, 37, has won everything in middle-distance running except an Olympic gold medal.

The Sydney-based mother-of-two trains in London during summer months and said the 2012 games would suit her better than Beijing in 2008.

'Beijing is two years away but in a way, it doesn't grab my attention. I could throw something at you totally unrealistic and far fetched but not impossible. My vision for the future is that it wouldn't be impossible for me to run in the Olympics in London.

'That would have a much greater attraction to me than Beijing because I've got more affinity with London than Beijing. If I was 20 years old, the Olympics could be on the moon and I'd still want to go and win.

'I've been to the Olympics before and I've experienced the good and the bad. Now I think, from a participatory point of view, the London Olympics would be fantastic and it's not impossible that I could qualify and run for Ireland.'

O'Sullivan may compete in the marathon in London as she has been increasingly competing in the event in recent years.

Comparing herself to tennis great Martina Navratilova, 49, who has competed in this year's Wimbledon, O'Sullivan today said she was enjoying training more than ever.

'Navratilova felt that she was forced into retirement and forced to stop doing what she loved the most. I'm in the same position, I love doing what I do. I love training. Young athletes make you feel young when you train with them.'

One of the leading middle-distance runners for most of the 1990s, O'Sullivan won a gold medal at the 1995 World Athletics Championships.

She took a silver medal at the 2000 Olympics as well as three European Championship golds and two World Cross-Country Championship titles.

She began competing in international competitions as a teenager.

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