O'Sullivan made an impressive comeback in 1998. At the World Cross-Country Championships at Marrakech in March, she entered both the short course (4 km) and long course (8 km) events. On successive days, O'Sullivan won both events, and her 4 km time of 12:20 was 14 seconds ahead of her nearest rival. O'Sullivan continued this form into the track season, where her performances in the 1500 m, 3000 m and 5000 m were close to those she had produced at her peak in 1994 and 1995. At the European Athletics Championships in Budapest, the 1500 m and 5000 m finals, events at which O'Sullivan usually doubled at major championships, were scheduled to be run on the same day, thus denying her the opportunity of competing in both events. Undeterred, O'Sullivan entered the 5000 m and 10,000 m, having never run the latter event before on the track. In the 10,000 m final, on 19 August, she shadowed the leaders, and then produced an astonishing 28.1 second final 200 metres to win the gold medal in 31:29.33 in her debut at the distance. Four days later, in the more familiar territory of the 5000 m, the pace was set by Romanian Gabriela Szabo, but again, O'Sullivan produced an explosive finishing sprint to defeat Szabo in 15:06.50. At the World Cup held the following month in Johannesburg, O'Sullivan won her second major international 5000 m competition of the year, again sprinting clear of the opposition following a very slow pace. She concluded her year by winning the BUPA Great North Run. O'Sullivan took a break from competition for most of 1999, during which time she gave birth to her daughter, Ciara, on 10 July 1999. O'Sullivan returned to training 10 days after her daughter's birth, and on 10 October, finished a half marathon in 70:05. 2000–2002 With the prospect of competing at her third Olympic Games in September 2000 in Sydney, O'Sullivan competed in the Australian domestic outdoor season during the European winter, recording a fastest time over 5000 m of 15:10.24 at Sydney on 13 February 2000. Back in Europe, she won the Dublin Women's Mini Marathon in June, before producing a number of quality performances on the track in her preparation for the Olympics. The Weltklasse meet in Zurich on 11 August produced the finest 3000 m race of the year, with the first six placings registering the six fastest