With a dominant style reminiscent of her mother, Sophie O’Sullivan won the prestigious NCAA 1,500m title at Hayward Field in Oregon on Saturday night, the climax of the US collegiate track and field season.
It was O’Sullivan’s final race representing the University of Washington in Seattle, and the 23-year-old made the absolute most of it. Hitting the front with two laps to go, she gradually wore down her rivals before kicking clear in the last 200 metres – her last lap a blazing 58.43 seconds, her winning time a season best of 4:07.94.
There was no disguising her utter delight on the line. O’Sullivan finished at the back of this race in her last two appearances, her preparations hampered by injury. “Pretty f**king happy,” she told trackside reporters. “I felt this year I was a different person, a different athlete. And based on the races I’ve had recently, I had no reason to think I should run bad.”
O’Sullivan became only the fifth Irish woman to win an NCAA title, following in the strides of her famous mother Sonia, who won the 3,000m with Villanova in 1990 and 1991. Valerie McGovern also won the 5,000m in 1990 and later Mary Cullen in 2006, before Rhasidat Adeleke became the first Irish woman to win a sprint title, running 49.20 to claim the 400m with the University of Texas two years ago.
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After the bunched field reached 800m in 2:21, O’Sullivan had seen enough, taking over at the front and never looking back. She ran her last two laps in 2:04.51, and although Margot Appleton from the University of Virginia chased hard, she had to settle for second in 4:08.99.
“Usually there’s a lot of talk about being the person that wants to win the most, and I think there was a bit of that,” added O’Sullivan. “I really wanted to win the most, but I think also I was probably okay if I didn’t win, if it meant I gave my best.”
Her mother Sonia was present at the famed Hayward Field to witness the moment of triumph.
O’Sullivan will now continue her preparations for the World Championships in Tokyo in September, having run a lifetime best 4:00.23 at the Paris Olympics last summer, just missing out on qualification for the semi-finals.
She made her Irish debut at the European Under-18 Championships in Gyor, Hungary in 2018, winning silver in the 800m behind Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson, who won the Olympic gold medal in Paris last summer. O’Sullivan then added the European Under-23 1,500m title in 2023, beating teammate Sarah Healy into second place.
Oregon was hosting the 43rd staging of the women’s NCAA championships, beginning in 1982 in Provo, Utah, while the men’s championships have been running since 1921. Only four Irish-born men achieved the feat of winning an NCAA title on the track; Ronnie Delany, John Lawlor (twice in the hammer) Eamonn Coghlan (twice in the 1,500m) and Frank O’Mara. Sean Dollman and Alistair Cragg, both South African born before declaring for Ireland, also won three, Cragg the last of them with his 10,000m title in 2004.
Elsewhere, Efrem Giday finished second in the British 10,000m championships in Birmingham, clocking 28:09.36. The title went to Britain’s Emile Cairess who clocked a new personal best of 27:27.95, with Ellis Cross third in 28:14.47.
Nick Griggs also made welcome return to form at the British Milers Club event in Belfast, winning the mile in 3:55.97, having missed several months of training due to an infection in his knee.
