Disappointment as Limerick duo bow out of European Championships
Both Sarah Lavin and Ciara Neville failed to reach the finals of their respective events in Birmingham
LIMERICK duo Ciara Neville and Sarah Lavin’s hopes of medals at the European Athletics Championships ended in disappointment in Birmingham on Monday evening.
The Emerald AC pair exited the 100m (Neville) and 100m Hurdles (Lavin) in what was a tough evening for the Irish champions.
Neville qualified for the 100m semi-finals after a fifth place finish in her heat on Monday morning in a time of 11.29.
However, Neville was unable to replicate her earlier showing and finished in eighth place with 11.57 and the time was not good enough to reach the final.
Neville recently won her 3rd National Senior 100m title in-a-row in a time of 11.44 and was hopeful of reaching the final but the 29-year-old will be running again in Birmingham as she is part of the Irish 4x100m relay squad.
There was also disappointment for Lavin after she failed to qualify out of the first round of the 100m Hurdles, despite running a season’s best of 13.07 and placing sixth.
Lavin missed out on a semi-final spot by the smallest of margins as a time of 13.01 would have been enough to qualify.
It is a result that Lavin has to take on the chin as she would have been looking to reach another final. She finished fifth at the Championships back in 2022. Lavin told RTÉ after the race that she is intent to finish the season on a high.
"I need to salvage something. It’s more so just to build on for next year. Olympic qualifying opens next year and you can’t be messing around and not have a plan that’s set in stone.
"I want to be in finals. Thanks to everyone back home. The crowd out here supporting and for the Irish team.”