Sonia O'Sullivan may have been out-voted for the IAAF's award for "Female Athlete of the Year" by American sprinter Marion Jones, but at least she was nominated. Anyway, the outcome was understandable as Jones was the fastest woman since Flo-Jo in both the 100 metres and 200 metres this season and went undefeated in 38 races, earning herself record prize money of nearly $1 million.

What is not quite so understandable is why O'Sullivan was left out altogether from the Reuters Sports Personality Poll of 1998. Despite her double success at the World Cross-Country, European Championships and victory in the World Cup, Reuters felt she didn't even deserve a place in their top 30 candidates. Maybe she should have just gone for the one race and the one big win, because that's what Brazil's Ronaldo Da Costa did in the marathon and his name was put forward.