In Episode Two, we meet Sonia on the start line of the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart.

It's two years on from the Barcelona Olympics and Sonia is a household name. In Stuttgart the nation sits back ready to bear witness to her cementing her place as an Irish sporting icon with gold at the World Championships.

But Ma Junren and his squad of Chinese runners have different plans. Stuttgart turns from being a coronation for Sonia to the scene where she displays just how deep she can go to find herself and overcome unforeseen obstacles. 

Sonia's silver at Stuttgart shows she's here for the long haul and in doing so cements her legend more than a cake-walk to gold ever could.

Episode 2: Caterpillar Fungus

In the final episode of Sonia, we find her at her lowest hour, Atlanta 1996. It's her second Olympics and again, Ireland expects and demands. 

We then go back a year to see just why the Irish public were just so expectant as Sonia becomes World Champion in Gothenburg. 

Sonia finally climbed on to the Olympic podium in Sydney eight years on from coming so close in Barcelona - it had been a long, but ultimately glory-filled, road along the way.

Episode 3: Talk To Joe

Thanks to the heroics of Wayne McCullough and Michael Carruth in the boxing ring, the 1992 Barcelona Olympics will forever live in the Irish sporting lexicon as one of the great summers -- and in the 1990s, there were a few.

But while the boxers were bagging gold and silver, a new star that would shine throughout the decade was taking her first steps at the Olympics: Sonia O'Sullivan.

In Episode One of Sonia, we follow the Cobh youngster as she lines up for her first Olympic heat and as she takes the lead in her first Olympic final with only a few hundred yards separating her from debut glory and defeat.

With Sonia, nothing was ever boring.

The42 Podcasts: Sonia