Why does Sonia do this to us?

At least she will finish the race, even if she doesn't come in the medals.

If the criteria for becoming a hero these days is not finishing the marathon, then we all qualify
 
"US" ???

Please explain

Is she about to do something to me ?

I should be told.





FJ
 
Sonia

I must congratulate Sonia on the marvellous sportsmanship she displayed last night. It won high praise of the international commentator I was listening to and made me very proud to be Irish. That's what the Olympics should be all about participation and representation and if you have to lose then I for one prefer to see it done gracefully.
 
Good on ya Sonia. Hold your head up high. It's a young girls game, we knew realistically you didn't stand a chance but you ran with pride and didn't give up. The loudest cheer was when you crossed the line. It's the taking part that counts not winning. What a girl, made me proud to be Irish.
 
She mentioned that her 2 children were going to the games.

Maybe she decided to do it for them?

Her determination to finish and her cheery wave to the fans in the arena will be remembered with great pride by them in years to come.

Marion :hat
 
Dignity

I suppose after all it wasn't so pitiful. Expectations are a wonderful thing - we had none for Sonia and so when the entirely predictable unfolded it was reasonably dignified.

Contrast Sonia's earlier disasters when she did have the weight of expectation or poor Paula Radcliffe, who is getting quite an unfair mauling from the Brit TV commentary teams.
 
And was she our only athlete that made it to a track & field final this time? Still the best of our crop... Well done Sonia
 
Squirm television

Did Sonia take the place of another up and coming athlete? Had we anyone else capable of running? Why does she continue to compete in high profile events, let someone else through.
 
If she met the qualifying standards/times in order to participate in the Olympics it is irrelevant whether she is up and coming or in the twilight of her career.

As somebody recently pointed out the big disappointment with our Olympic participants is not that they're not winning medals (which in most cases would not be a realistic expectation) but that they are generally not matching or exceeding personal bests. This suggests that, in spite of all the hype after Sydney and the promises of better systems and support, we are not actually progressing on this front. Or maybe our individual sports people are simply just not good enough. Of course the fact that we don't have much of a grass roots support system for aspiring or promising sports people starting out doesn't help...
 
..

Personally, I think she made a show of herself. Being dropped after two laps and eventually being lapped in a 5000m race is (or should be) embarrassing for an athlete of her standard. No amount of guff along the lines of "it's the taking part that counts" would convince me otherwise - she thought she was in with a shout but was clearly ill-prepared.

For someone who's scaled the heights of her sport, this was an undignified way to exit. She is clearly past her best but like a boxer who fights one bout too many, she couldn't bring herself to admit it.

Like everyone else, I'll remember her great days, but I think the manner of exit from the sport is something she'll come to regret.
 
sonia's exit

I agree, it was a sad exit, and she should have known better.
 
Re: sonia's exit

the big disappointment with our Olympic participants is...that they are generally not matching or exceeding personal bests.
Click to expand...

...which ignores the point that it would be impossible for most athletes from this part of the world to achieve the same standards in the 30+ degrees summer heat of Athens that they attain in the temperate climate that they are more used to.

BTW, Catherina McKiernan (who is roughly the same age as Sonia) decided a few months ago not to bother trying to achieve the Olympic qualifying standard, on the basis that she wasn't really in sufficient condition at that time to do herself justice at the Games. A wise decision, I think
 
...

I've been fairly harsh on Sonia in the past (placed a bet with a mate in 1996 that she would never win an Olympic gold) as she falls into my category of athletes who just don't have the mentality to deliver on the greatest stage when the pressure is on: Jimmy Whyte, Colin Montgomerie, Paula Radcliffe, Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke etc. I feel that all these have the talent and ability to reach the pinnacle of their respective fields, but alas, all have failed at the final hurdle...its sad but true that they have all bottled it at various stages of their careers...and yes for athletes of their calibre coming second is bottling - as your man says in The Bronx Tale "there's nothing sadder than wasted potential".

However, over the last while I've been mellowing on Sonia. Though I don't think we should go too far (jaysus if only for fear of suffering the wrath of Roy) with this "glorious defeat is better than victory" lark (e.g.reaction to Radcliffe's tragic failure, and article in today's Irish Times on Sonia) there is something about Sonia I feel. True she has failed to deliver the golds that her talent deserved, but the fact is she was beaten into 4th place all those years ago by three drugged-up Chinese who were never heard of again, and recently Gabriella Szabo (or whatever), who beat her into that silver medal, has been linked to drugs (she got away with a hilarious excuse). The one thing I am certain about Sonia is she is clean of drugs, and since it is clear she would have had 2 gold medals had it not been for drug-cheats, I am beginning to think that its not fair to say she bottled it - she was robbed.

With regards to last night, yes it was embarassing and she definitely bottled it (1min 39 secs slower than her season's best I make it, and these bouts of sickness just don't happen to the very very top athletes), but fair play to her for finishing, that required steel that was sorely lacking in the past. I salute her for being an honest athlete who always tried her best...though as mentioned above, the fact that she was our only track athlete who made it to the final is pretty grim.
 
Re: ...

Ah yes, armchair athletes!
Why don't you get off yer fat backsides and represent your Country?
Probably break into a sweat bending over to look into yer fridge!!
 
Re: sonia's exit

> ...which ignores the point that it would be impossible for most athletes from this part of the world to achieve the same standards in the 30+ degrees summer heat of Athens that they attain in the temperate climate that they are more used to.

But many of our representatives train regularly and/or acclimatise in climates warmer and more humid than that which prevails in Ireland. Until we all embrace the Corinthian spirit of participation, rather than winning, being its own reward (a la the Community Games or the Special Olympics) then I think it's quite reasonable to expect excellence and progress (but not necessarily medals) from our representatives and to raise questions when this does not happen.
 
Sonia's legacy

She is the most successful Irish track and field athlete ever.
That's what she had given this country.
Without her we would not have had even one athlete in a single final at the Olympics.
 
Give her a break

Tonto
>> Did Sonia take the place of another up and coming athlete? Had we anyone else capable of running?
Why does she continue to compete in high profile events, let someone else through.
Sonia is a talent which comes along once in a lifetime. We have some very good athletes, but none of the calibre of Sonia
and looking down the line none with the potential to make the impact she has had on the sport for Ireland. Quite simply
our top athletes are still a long way off the world class level you need to compete in an olympic final.
Athletes need mental training as well as physical training to prepare for majoe events. We are improving slowly in terms
of preparing our "elite" athletes physically, but we are a long way off in other areas.

Spacer,
Terrible attitude, but everyone has their opinion.
From what you are saying, should we infer that an athlete who qualifies for a final with the top athletes in the world,
but on the day of the final feels a little off, should throw in the towel and not compete. Should a team for which the odds
are heavily stacked against it, not participate in a match against far superior opposition. Should a boxer not step into the
ring when he knows he won't win. I think through your narrow little vision there you have lost sight of what sport is all about.


It's a fact that Sonia was denied or robbed as it's been mentioned, of a number of significant medals in major championships.
This happened at the time when she was dominant in the sport over a range of distances which is not an easy thing to achieve.
That was just bad luck or bad timing, but regardless of what the record books show, we should all know or recognise that she
was the real champion at those times.

I don't see any embarrassment in her showing in the 5k final. She didn't perform, it can happen in finals. Excuses ? Maybe
the energy sapping conditions, body past it, illness whatever, it happens. When you are off the pace so early in the race
and running on your own, it is incredibly difficult to match even 80% of the pace set by the main race bunch and inevitable
that you record a significantly slower time. She showed enormous courage to continue the race when she was so far down.
The logical thing would have been be to quit and save herself the anguish. Instead she pushed herself through painful mental
and physical barriers to finish the race as a gesture to all who supported her and believed in her. That takes real guts.
In doing so she showed some of the true spirit of the games, which have been tarnished by the drug cheats.
She has more than earned her respect for the commitment and dedication she has given the sport and as our representative
through the years and deserves only tributes at this stage of her career.
 
Re: Give her a break

Terrible attitude, but everyone has their opinion.
From what you are saying, should we infer that an athlete who qualifies for a final with the top athletes in the world,
but on the day of the final feels a little off, should throw in the towel and not compete. Should a team for which the odds
are heavily stacked against it, not participate in a match against far superior opposition. Should a boxer not step into the
ring when he knows he won't win. I think through your narrow little vision there you have lost sight of what sport is all about.
Click to expand...

Very nicely put. It's almost like some people expect an apology from Sonia because she "embarassed" them. She did her best against a field far younger than her but was brave enough to compete and come last. It was her choice and it's disappointing to see armchair pundits criticising her for that. After her great career she owed no one anything, but maybe SHE wanted to run in her FOURTH olympic games and took the right decision for HER.
 
..

I stand by my view. She was appalling in the race.

I'm not suggesting she shouldn't have run because she had no chance of winning, but someone of her standing and reputation should have at least put up a decent show.

A critical analysis of her career (free from misty- water-coloured "isn't-she-a-great-girl" sentiment) will show that she has made some questionable decisons in the past regarding choice of races, if/when to compete, etc and I belive the decison to run on this occasion was similarly ill-judged.

Would you all like to see her keep going until she drops just because it's the taking part that counts? Or do you believe there's a time when she should call it a day? My point is that she should have done so before this games, and I think she should have known this herself.
 
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