ATHLETICS: Since winning last year's World Cross Country title Benita Johnson has become a wanted athlete. Instead of just running races, Johnson now finds herself promoting them, such as the Bupa Great Ireland Run next April 9th.

One of the reasons Johnson has become one of the most popular faces in athletics is because - alongside Paula Radcliffe - she has the proven ability to challenge the all-conquering Africans over country. With her victory in Brussels last March, the Australian joins Sonia O'Sullivan and Radcliffe as the only non-African winners of the World Cross Country event in the last decade.

Still only 25, Johnson's main target for the coming months is the defence of her world title in St-Etienne in France on March 19th-20th. Like O'Sullivan and Radcliffe, she has also signed up to run the London Marathon on April 17th, and will decide on the Great Ireland Run closer to race day.

"I think the main reason I won the World Cross Country was that I believed I could," said Johnson, who is coached by O'Sullivan's partner Nic Bideau. "The years I spent training with O'Sullivan helped give me the confidence. But as a group we train exceptionally hard, and I just improved steadily over the years."

Joining Johnson at yesterday's race launch in Croke Park was fellow Australian Craig Mottram, who at 24 is the fastest non-African over 5,000 metres thanks to his 12 minutes 55.76 seconds run in London last summer. Mottram, also coached by Bideau, will defend his Great Ireland Run title, which once again is staged in the Phoenix Park.

Both athletes are returning to their Australian base in Melbourne to complete their preparations for the World Cross Country, and will join O'Sullivan for some high-altitude training at Falls Creek: "I know from training with Sonia for most of last summer that she definitely has something more to give the sport," said Johnson. "She was doing some great sessions before the Olympics, which obviously didn't work the way she had wanted. But I think she got over it quite quickly, and is now determined to get really fit again."

While further elite athletes will be added to the race over the coming weeks, the main idea behind the Great Ireland Run is mass participation and some 5,000 runners are expected to compete. Entries details can be found at www.greatrun.org or by calling (01) 868 0088.