Limerick's Sarah Lavin 'overwhelmed' with support shown to her after Olympics

LIMERICK'S Sarah Lavin may have been underwhelmed by her 100m hurdles semi-final performance at the Paris Olympics where she came in sixth place, just shy of the qualifying places for the Olympic final, but since returning home the Emerald AC athlete has been "overwhelmed" by the support of her local fans in the county. 

lavin, who is one of Virgin Media's TV ambassadors alongside Thomas Barr, spoke at the launch of the Virgin Media's continued coverage of top-class athletics over the next few weeks. 

Lisnagry woman Sarah Lavin said: "The support is incredible. I was training in UL and there was a handball competition going on and I was in the middle of a rep, bent over, and someone asked me over for a photo and there was just an influx of different families and it was just beautiful to see all the excitement around it.

"It makes life so much easier to come home, for us we know that the Olympic cycle is over and we put so much time and effort into getting there and sometimes it can be a little bit hollow when the results don't go your way, but to come home to such resounding support and to see how many people tuned in to watch Team Ireland, it's just incredible."

Lavin, now 31 years-old finished her semi-final in a time of 12.69 in the Stade De France in Paris with the Limerick woman holding the Irish record for the women's 100m hurdles with a time of 12.62.

The Lisnagry native touched on the disappointment of not running her quickest race, which she stated she was more than capable of doing at the Olympics.

"I know what I did a year ago, it was 12.62, 0.1 would have put me into that Olympic final but I just didn't put it out at the right time. All my markers suggested I would and that's the nature of this sport precision is required. So I came home underwhelmed because I expected to do better than I did, but coming home to 500 messages on my phone or even running into the shop and people are taking a second look at you and congratulating you it makes life a lot easier."

Despite the upset in Paris, Lavin who is trained by Noelle Morrissey, has no plans on slowing down and is currently waiting "in the long grass" for any last minute withdrawals in the 100m Hurdles at the Diamond League Events. She will continue her season and run indoors in the coming months.