For most of the weekend, Sonia O'Sullivan convinced herself that all was well. She warmed up for yesterday's short course race at the World Cross Country Championships in Ostend still confident of victory, still hopeful that the head cold that had stalled her preparations during the week was now behind her.

After just three minutes of racing her worst fears were realised. There was nothing in the legs and it was like running in slow motion. Athletes she would usually burn off in a couple of strides came streaming past, and there was no reason and no way to go on.

Dropping out has so rarely been an option for O'Sullivan. And these were meant to be the championships to renew her spirit after the crushing World Indoor experience in Lisbon a fortnight ago. But for the first time since the Grand Prix final of post-Atlanta Olympics, 1996, she stepped aside.

"This is not like an injury where you know you have a problem," she said. "It's only when you start the race that you really know how you feel, and I just did not feel right out there. I felt okay warming up but not in the race and there was just no point in continuing."

As Britain's Paula Radcliffe and Ethiopia's Gete Wami were fighting it out for the title, O'Sullivan walked out of the course looking to the future. "I've got plenty of rest this week anyway so I'll be straight back into it."

And smiling, she then handed her mud-covered running spikes to the Belgian official who had carried over her Irish tracksuit: "Give those to some kid. They weren't good for me and I'm never going to wear them again."

Enforcing the disappointment was the news of how well the other Irish had finished the 4km race. Anne Keenan-Buckley produced her best international performance by finishing in 20th place, followed closely home by equally courageous efforts from Maria McCambridge and Una English in 22nd and 31st place. O'Sullivan at her best would have almost certainly assured them of a team medal. Freda Davoran was the fourth scorer back in 79th place and the team still ended up sixth.

Now aged 39, Keenan-Buckley actually hit the front of the field coming past the finishing stand after the first 800 metres. She hovered around the leading dozen for the first of two laps but midway through the second she fell, a victim of the slippery mud that made it so difficult to find a straight line of running.

"Well I got up as fast as I could and lost only a couple of places," she said. "But I knew I had to get out fast at the start because if you didn't then there was no way you were going to make your way up in that mud. It was extremely difficult in places and at times you were sliding all over the place."

None of that hindered a beautiful weekend for Radcliffe. On Saturday, she took the long course 8km race that most people regard as the true world title. And yesterday she got the bonus of silver in the short course.

Both races involved absorbing contests with Wami, twice winner in the past. So thrilling it was then that Radcliffe won the title she wanted with a sprint finish - so often her handicap in the past.

Wami had stolen by her in the finishing straight in 1997 in Turin, her first of two successive silver medals, but not this time. The Ethiopian made one major effort within view of the line but Radcliffe had another response, bursting past once more to win by three seconds.

Wami, however, managed to reverse that result yesterday with a more decisive surge in the final yards of a long home stretch, winning this one by just a single second.

Unfortunately, the future of women's distance running in Ireland does not look so good. On Saturday, the junior team ended up 19th out of the 21 finishing teams, totalling 404 points against 16 points for the Ethiopia, the winners. Lesley Shannon was the best of them in 88th position.