Sonia O’Sullivan

Sonia O’Sullivan. International Athlete and Local Hero. , World Champion and Olympic Athlete, Sonia O’Sullivan was born in Cobh on 28th November 1969. She is Ireland’s greatest ever athlete and one of the greatest Irish sports people ever. Sonia joined the Ballymore Cobh Athletic Club at the age of 12 and spent many years running around the hills and fields of Cobh. Following a sporting scholarship in Villanova University, Sonia competed in her first Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992. Sonia competed in four Olympic Games, achieving a silver medal win in the 5000m event in Sydney in 2000., This Olympic Silver Medal capped a string of successes by Sonia which included three World Championship Gold Medals, three European Championship Gold Medals and four World Records. There were many disappointments also throughout Sonia’s running career and the people of Cobh and Ireland continued to support Sonia throughout. She still holds the World record over 2000m and holds the Irish record in 1000m, 1500m, Mile, 2000m, 3000m, two mile, 5000m, 10,000m and half Marathon., Sonia was the Chef de Mission for Team Ireland at the London 2012 Olympic Games. It was never in question that Sonia O’Sullivan should be permanently honoured in her hometown. Cobh Tourism took the initiative to celebrate and acknowledge the achievements of Sonia over a long and glittering career in athletics by erecting a bronze statue of her in her home town. The fundraising was completed within two years through a mix of donations, fundraising by many clubs and organisations and the generous support of the people of Cobh. The statue was completed to mark the twentieth anniversary of Sonia winning gold in the 5000m in the World Championships in Gothenburg., The statue of Sonia was painstakingly crafted by local sculptor James McLoughlin and is a perfect representation of Ireland’s greatest ever athlete at the peak of her career in the 1990’s. Sonia O’Sullivan unveiled the statue of herself in front of a large crowd of well wishers on a very wet afternoon on Sunday 20th September 2015., Cobh Tourism led the campaign to acknowledge in her home town the achievements of Sonia O’Sullivan. The following contributed to the Sonia Statue Fund (in order of donation):, Cobh Credit Union . Merck Millipore . GlaxoSmithKline . Ballymore Cobh Athletic Club . Cobh Tidy Towns . East Cork Oil . J and JP Reilly . BMC Stores . St. Mary’s National School . Cork Business Houses Athletic Association . Ballynoe Inn . Cobh Flower and Horticulture Club . Centra Ltd . SWELS . Peter O’Shea . Cork County Athletics Board . David Lindsay . Frank Walley . Cork City Sports . John O’Hurdon . Rebecca O’Connell . Cobh Community College . Pressure Hydraulics Cork Ltd. . Cronin Miller Consulting Engineers . Cork County Council, The people of Cobh supported the many fundraising events, in particular Strictly Cobh Dancing in February 2015., Roll of Honour, . 1991 World Student Games Sheffield: 1500m Gold; 3000m Silver , . 1993 World Championships Stuttgart: 1500m Silver , . 1994 European Championships Helsinki: 3000m Gold , . 1995 World Championships Gothenburg: 5000m Gold , . 1997 World Indoor Championships Paris: 3000m Silver , . 1998 World Cross-Country Championships Marrakech: Long Race – Gold; Short Race – Gold , . 1998 European Championships Budapest: 5000m Gold; 10000m Gold , . 1999 World Championships Seville: 5000m Silver , . 2000 Olympic Games Sydney: 5000m Silver , . 2002 European Championships Munich: 5000m Silver; 10000m Silver, Sonia was also extremely successful in the Grand Prix Athletic circuit and at her peak consistently finished in the top three positions., This statue was commissioned by Cobh Tourism Ltd and was sculpted by James McLoughlin. The project was generously supported by Cork County Council, (Captions) , Sonia O’Sullivan celebrates winning the women’s 5000m European Athletics Championships, Budapest 1998. Photo courtesy of Brendan Moran/SPORTSFILE.