Sarah Lavin was brutally honest when describing her own performance in last night's 100m hurdles final at the European Athletics Championships, as the Limerick native missed out on a medal after finishing seventh with a time of 12.94s. Visibly upset and disappointed with her own performance, Lavin said that she 'bottled it' in a post-race interview with RTÉ's David Gillick. Fans on social media were quick to rally around Lavin, feeling that the sprinter was being overly critical of her own performance.
Lavin qualified for the final of her event after running a season's best 12.73s in her semi-final earlier in the day, and looked set to challenge for a medal in the 9pm final. Lavin made a brilliant start, but clipped the second hurdle with both legs and was unable to recover for the rest of the race. Cyrena Samba-Mayela of France won gold in a championship record time of 12.31s.
Not to be for Sarah Lavin, as she finishes seventh in the 100m hurdles final with a time of 12.94.
📺 Watch on @RTE2 & @RTEplayer pic.twitter.com/cqAo0rZHch— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) June 8, 2024
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Brutal Honesty From Sarah Lavin After Disappointing European Final
It wasn't to be for Ireland's Sarah Lavin last night, as she had to settle for seventh place. After making a bright start, Lavin clipped the second hurdle and lost her momentum. Describing her start to Gillick, Lavin said it was "really good".
"It was the same as the semi-final, it was really really quick, it was the same again there. Then I hit it with my lead and my trail I think, but badly, and I lost everything and I had to start again from scratch because obviously your whole acceleration is gone."
"I bottled it, you know."
After running a blistering 12.73 in the semi-finals, Lavin set her eyes on a medal in the final in Rome. She described her plan heading into the final, stating, "For the semi-final I was like, 'how do I set this up', and I didn't finish it, I could have gotten a lot closer, so I ended it with the same mindset but I said 'right how do i set this up and how do I finish it', and I didn't even get a chance to finish it."
Cyrena Samba-Mayela of France won gold, setting a championship record time of 12.31s. Reflecting after the race, Lavin said she didn't know if she could run those times, describing them as "incredibly quick times". She did, however, admit,
"I know I'm so much better than that, and that's what's killing."
Clearly dejected after a difficult race, disappointment was written on the face of Sarah Lavin, who was struggling to find any positives from the race. Asked if she could take any positive learnings from last night's race, Lavin paused before responding:
"Yeah I'm sure I will, but right now... no."
"I know I'm so much better and that's what's killing me."
A despondent Sarah Lavin gives her reaction to @DavidGillick after the European Championships 100m hurdles final in Rome. pic.twitter.com/uCMPnQVaFY— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) June 8, 2024
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