Sonia O'Sullivan has given invaluable advice to potential athletes looking to compete at the elite level.

Speaking on Off The Ball's 'Keane and Mageean: Unleashed', O'Sullivan spoke about her Olympic experiences in Atlanta and Sydney between 1996 and 2000.

She is firmly of the belief that the event can become over-hyped in athletes' minds, and had advice on both the physical and mental front, by way of a cautionary tale.

Sonia O'Sullivan on Olympic dreams

"The Olympics is not that different from the World Championships - it is the same people running there. It just has that bigger feeling about it, more people know about it and more people ask you about it," Sonia said.

"It can become a bigger thing in your mind than it really is. I think you have to break it down into small pieces and follow the same routine that you do for training, for smaller races to big races.

"You just follow that routine all that way to the Olympics.

"The most important thing is walking off the track knowing that you have given everything and that you have got the best result that you can."

Sonia on the future of athletics

Sonia was also questioned about the difference between international and national competitions.

"The medal in the Olympics is one of those things where all the people around the world up their game in an Olympic year," commented Sonia.

"Some people change things and some people continue doing the same things. I think that if you have got to a certain level, you have been successful and you are happy with your rate of progression, then I wouldn't change things too much.

"I think people think that because it is an Olympic year you have to change things and do things a lot different.

"Whereas, I think you just have to do the same thing again and maybe do some things a little bit better. That is what I used to do when I got up to running 100 miles a week.

"I didn't decide that I had to run more than that, I just got better at running 100 miles a week."

As for her own personal records, Sonia would not be averse to relinquishing her national titles to Ciara Mageean.

"Maybe ten years ago, I might have been annoyed - but now it's kind of old enough! It must be twenty-five years.

"You can see it coming down the track!"

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