Two world titles in a matter of hours is a peak after which most athletes could retire. For Sonia O'Sullivan it has become a launch pad. The Irish athlete who had a remarkable dual success at the World Cross Country Championships in Marrakesh in March competes in her first meet of the European season tonight when she runs in the 5,000 metres at the L'Humanite event in St Denis, Paris.

After such public failure in the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 and the World Championships in Athens last year the omens would now seem to be good for the Cork woman. However, in reality there is nothing in recent months to compare with tonight's run, although O'Sullivan says she is more than content with her new coach Alan Storey and her new training regime.

In the future lies an attempt on the world two-mile record at the Cork City sports at the end of this month and the European Championships 5,000 in Budapest in August. But O'Sullivan prefers to talk of todays rather than tomorrows. "I'm not sure who is going to be in the field in Paris but the race will give me a good idea of where I am right now. I don't really know exactly what my schedule is over the next month which is quiet because of the World Cup, but I'll be running mainly 1,500 metres races except in Cork where a world record attempt is a possibility and possibly a 3,000 metres race somewhere else."

It is likely that England's Paula Radcliffe and Morocco's Zohra Ouaziz will both be in the field tonight. On Monday evening Ouaziz, who finished third to O'Sullivan in the 1995 World Championships, won the 3,000 metres in the Hengelo meet in Holland with a personal best time of eight minutes 30.43 seconds. But tonight's race is more about O'Sullivan and her running than her competitors' form.

"My training has been going very well and I'm looking forward to racing, getting out there," she says. "You will always be a little bit apprehensive for the first one but that's natural. It will be, in a sense starting out again."

The Cork runner will not be the only Irish athlete in competition in Paris. Susan Smith, who ran the fastest opener of her career when she clocked a 56.51 seconds 400 metres hurdles race at Hengelo, is also entered for the same event tonight. She will also compete in the Europa Cup for Ireland at the weekend.

Despite finishing sixth, Smith can be well pleased with her performance in Hengelo as it was the first run of the season over the full circuit.

She missed six weeks of training in March and April due to stress fractures in her shins, but intensive coaching in Atlanta with Loren Seagrave, who also coaches Olympic Champion Donovan Bailey, seems to have paid off. She is scheduled to compete just 10 minutes before O'Sullivan runs in the 5,000 metres.