Lavin victory helps Irish to fifth at European Team Championships

Irish Examiner

14 hours ago

Sarah Lavin played a starring role for the Irish on day two of the European Athletics Team Championships in Maribor, Slovenia on Sunday – the Limerick athlete powering to victory in the 100m hurdles to help Ireland to a fifth-place finish in division two.
The Irish amassed 349 points across the two-day event, leaving them adrift of the top-three nations who were promoted to the first division: Belgium (451.5), Slovenia (402.5) and Norway (400).
Lavin was sole Irish winner across the weekend, her winning time of 12.82 in still conditions just shy of her season's best of 12.76, which she ran in Ostrava earlier in the week. On Saturday, she also helped the Irish women's 4x100m team to third place.
Ireland had been slumming it in division three at the last edition of this event in 2023, having been relegated from division two due to their no-show in 2021 due to the quarantine requirements at the time.
Since the European Cup was replaced by the European Team Championships in 2009, Ireland has otherwise occupied the mid-table positions in the second tier, never lower than 10th, but never likely to get promoted, with this being their best result in that time.
Ireland is undoubtedly a division one nation on the track but the relative weakness in field events, coupled with the absence of many star names, makes it hard to make that a reality.
'Of course we'd love to be top three,' said Lavin. 'I think, particularly in recent years, Ireland belong in that first division with the powerhouses of Europe.'
Lavin is never one to turn down an Irish vest and she again made a key contribution here.
'To get maximum points for the team was the priority – I was number three on season's best,' she said. 'It's 11 weeks today to Tokyo round one and that's the big one this year, but any opportunity you can take to put on your country's singlet, you want to represent it to the maximum of your capabilities."
Another of their leading performers was Nicola Tuthill, who produced the second biggest throw of her career to take third in the women's hammer.
The Cork athlete survived some nervy moments after opening with two fouls before unleashing a 68.30m throw to ensure three more chances.
She threw her leading mark of 70.50m in the fourth round, and one of her subsequent fouls was a huge throw, close to her recent Irish U-23 record of 71.71m in Finland.
'It was not my best competition,' said Tuthill. 'I am proud of myself for getting one in (in the third round) because I was getting really stressed there, but then I got over 70. I'm disappointed the fouls weren't in the sector.' The action concluded with the mixed 4x400m where Jack Raftery, Cliodhna Manning, Callum Baird and Sharlene Mawdsley finished second in their heat, and fourth overall, in 3:14.81.
Elsewhere, Cian McPhillips showed impressive closing speed to come from well behind and finish third in the men's 800m, the Longford native clocking 1:46.37. 'It's been a bit of a rough season, I'm only getting back from injury after the European Indoors,' he said. 'I wasn't sure what shape I was in, but I knew whatever I did run would be a start point and hopefully I'll go a bit quicker over the coming months. The two guys ahead of me are 1:44 flat (800m) and 3:31 (1500m) guys, I'm up there with the best. I couldn't ask for much more.'
Laura Nicholson turned in an impressive front-running display in the women's 1500m and battled strongly for fourth place in 4:20.48. Finley Daly finished a fine fourth in the 3000m steeplechase in 8:51.89, while Róisín Flanagan finished sixth in the 5000m in 16:04.21.
Adam Nolan suffered a dangerous fall in the 110m hurdles and insult was added to injury when he was disqualified for failing to clear the final barrier.
Lauren Roy came home fifth in the women's 200m in 23.32, while Marcus Lawler was sixth in the men's race in 20.81. Niamh Fogarty threw a personal best of 14.29m to finish seventh in the shot put.