Irish Athletics star Sophie O’Sullivan gave a brutally honest interview after bowing out of the World Athletics Championships in the 1500m semi-final on Sunday morning.

O’Sullivan, the 23-year-old daughter of Irish legend Sonia, took the country by storm on Saturday when she became the first Irish athlete of the series to qualify for a semi-final.

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Having battled through an injury-plagued season, O’Sullivan looked all but out when she rounded the final turn of her heat in seventh place. However, a blistering finish that required O’Sullivan to leap over the line would see her defy the odds and earn a place in Sunday’s semi-final.

What a leap from Sophie O’Sullivan to reach the 1500m semi-finals at the World Championships! 😅

Sarah Healy is through too after finishing third in her heat ☘#athletics #WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/iO8LKoEwzb

— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) September 13, 2025

Unfortunately, O’Sullivan’s energy seemed spent on her initial heat, and the still very young athlete had to settle for a 12th-place finish in Sunday’s semi-final, when she crossed the line some ways behind the leaders.

Sophie O’Sullivan had to settle for a 12th-place finish in her 1500m semi-final and will not progress to the final.

Coverage of the World Athletics Championships continues on @RTE2 and @RTEplayer

📺https://t.co/XnOP6grnB7 #RTESport pic.twitter.com/oRMqdaZh73

— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) September 14, 2025

— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) September 13, 2025

Although a World Championship Final may not have been within reach this year, O’Sullivan’s progress to the semi-finals was an achievement in itself for an athlete still very much at the beginning of her career.

Sophie O’Sullivan delivers brutally honest interview after 12th place finish 

Despite the disappointing nature in which Sophie O’Sullivan bowed out of this year’s World Athletics Championships, the 23-year-old showed great maturity in an honest post-race interview with RTÉ’s David Gillick, admitting how tough it was to be so far behind the pack.

It’s kind of tough when you throw everything at it. You make it and you want to make the most of it, so it feels tough to not even be close there, just being a long way out.

If you come into it all week thinking you’ve made it out of the heat and you still don’t make it out, 90% of the time you weren’t making it out because you thought you weren’t. So I thought I was in the final all day yesterday and all day today. I just think I need to go back and see what you can do off not much and hopefully I can come back with a bit more next time.

‘It feels tough to not even be close’

Sophie O’Sullivan speaks to us after missing out on a spot in the final of the 1500m

Report: https://t.co/ZGNmFBIWRX #RTESport pic.twitter.com/k9E9YEwFhO

— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) September 14, 2025

As always, David Gillick was on hand to console O’Sullivan, putting the result ‘into context’.

“You’ve had a great all early season, then an injury. This sport is all about consistency, and you missed a good chunk. Some might say that even what happened tonight, if that happened yesterday, was understandable, yet you showed what you’re made of to put yourself here,” said Gillick.

While not disagreeing with Gillick, it was a compliment that was hard to stomach for the young Irish runner, who was clearly deflated from the events of the day.

I’ve only really been running for two weeks I guess, and I was taking it day-by-day and it was good to run there, but it’s one of those things.

You’re never gonna be happy really, you get one thing and you want something else, so it is tough, but I guess there’s things to take from it.

While it wasn’t to be for O’Sullivan this year, she certainly proved that even after a difficult season, she’s on the right trajectory to be a mainstay of the Irish athletics scene in years to come.

SEE ALSO: Sharlene Mawdsley Shares Lovely Moment With David Gillick After Semi-Final Qualification