Olympic 5000m silver medallist Sonia O'Sullivan was upstaged by compatriot Catherina McKiernan, losing her Great BUPA Ireland Run 10km title in Dublin, today.
Only 3km into the race, eyebrows were raised when McKiernan, who O'Sullivan had beaten here last year opened up a five-metre gap which by the finishing line had stretched to almost 200m ahead of fourth-placed O'Sullivan.
In her first competition around the tough Phoenix Park circuit since finishing fourth in December's European Cross Country Championships, O'Sullivan looked a shadow of the athlete who scored a runaway 2003 victory.
By contrast, McKiernan was a class act as she defied strong, gusting winds to steer herself to a solid victory in 33:39.
McKiernan was well clear of runner-up Yelena Fadeyeva who clocked 33:50, and Analia Rosa in third who was a further 12 seconds down on the Ukrainian.
Then came a relaxed-looking O'Sullivan, waving to the crowds as she finished fourth behind the Portuguese runner, well shy of her 32:24 course record in a time of 34:16.
"I felt fine, but with the kind of training I have done, there is nowhere I was ready for a 10k race at the moment,'' said the unperturbed O'Sullivan.
"I didn't really want to get too involved in the race, this was more of a training run than anything else.''
As she prepares to fly to the United States on Sunday for a month's altitude training, O'Sullivan reassured concerned supporters.
"Next week is when the Olympic preparations and really hard work will start,'' she insisted.
O'Sullivan's coach and partner, Nic Bideau, is already at their high-altitude Laguna Mountain venue near San Diego, 6000 feet above sea level, with other squad members including World Cross Country champion Benita Johnson.
McKiernan, who in the past has been overshadowed by O'Sullivan's magnificent career, was delighted with her victory.
Last year's runner-up said: "Obviously it's great to win here, although the conditions made it very tough for me. I think it's a couple of years ago since I last beat Sonia."
"Clearly she was not at her best today and I don't know how her winter's training has gone. But I'm sure she'll be back and doing everything right during the summer.''
Mottram retains men's win
Australia's 2002 World Cup 3000m winner Craig Mottram successfully defended his men's title.
The wind slowed him to a winning time of 29:11, but Mottram's performance was nevertheless a world-class run, as he finished 50 seconds ahead of Portugal's Victor Almeida who in turn had three seconds to spare on Northern Ireland's Andy Graffin.