Sonia O'Sullivan is an Irish runner from Cobh. She was one of the leading female 5000m runners for most of the 1990s and early 2000s. Her crowning achievement was a Gold medal at the 1995 World Athletics Championships . She also set a 5000m world record time in 1991, making her the first Irish woman to set a world track record. O'Sullivan entered the 1996 Atlanta Olympics as the favourite but had to withdraw due to a stomach illness. She won a silver medal at the 2000 Olympics, narrowly beaten.