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The 42
4 days ago
- Sport
- The 42
'You have to level up' - the curse and blessing of running in a golden era for women's hurdles
SARAH LAVIN SOMETIMES tells her parents that she wishes she was born a few years earlier. It's all in jest, of course, but there's a veneer of truth behind the joke. Lavin is the queen of women's hurdles in Ireland. She took the crown from Derval O'Rourke at the 2023 World Championships when she blasted through the 100m hurdles semi-final in a time of 12.62. It was a milestone moment for her. A long-term target. But her literal best performance was not enough to see her through to the final on that occasion. The upside for Lavin is that her career coincides with a golden period for women's hurdles. The downside for Lavin is that her career coincides with a golden period for women's hurdles. 'The greatest who have ever done women's sprint hurdles are all around in this era now,' Lavin says, summing up the challenge she faces every time she steps on the track. 'The records that were there in the 80s are gone. So many of us are national record holders and the best who have ever done it from our country. The world record holder, the European record holder, the Olympic record holder and the world indoor record holder . . . everyone is in this cohort. 'And when you bring them all together, it means mad stuff is happening timewise. You have to level up.' Advertisement It was a similar scenario for Lavin at the European Indoor Championships in March. She clocked a season's best of 7.92 in the final of the 60m hurdles, which was good enough for fourth. Switzerland's Mujinga Kambundji set a European record of 7.67 to take gold, while Nadine Visser broke the Dutch national record to win the silver medal in 7.72. Pia Skrzyszowska of Poland clinched third in 7.83. 'Who's happy with fourth?' Lavin told RTÉ's David Gillick after the race. 'It's not the end of the world in the fastest European race ever. Last year I was in the fastest world final ever.' The World Championships in Tokyo are the main goal for Lavin in 2025, and the good news is that qualification is already assured for the Limerick athlete. The bad news is that the bar remains nauseatingly high. She ran a season's best of 12.76 in the 100m hurdles at the Golden Spike meeting in Ostrava last month. She also won the 100m hurdles at the European Team Championships in Slovenia in a time of 12.82. But she knows that 12.5 is the aim if she wants to make the final in Japan. 'It's not beyond my realm of possibility, but again, you could also run 12.5 and not make it,' she adds. Along with chasing the clock, Lavin has been working on some technical aspects that have been affecting her performance. The first hurdle has been particularly problematic for her. At the World Indoor Championships in China, she failed to reach the final after clipping the first barrier. 'It's clear as day to anyone sitting on the couch, whether you know anything about it or not, that that's an area I could definitely improve on. 'We really tried to zone in on that. The biggest thing I'm trying [to do is] get up to speed sooner in my race between hurdle one and two, to increase my flight times to get under the 0.33 of a second that you're in the air.' Lavin has also been sampling relay running to help with preparation for Tokyo. Along with Sarah Leahy, Ciara Neville and Lauren Roy, she ran the fourth leg of the 4x100m at the European Athletics Team Championships in Slovenia. Together, they clocked 43.97 to come third. 'Relay running is really good to work on your flat speed which is obviously really crucial and probably my my biggest strength when it comes to the hurdles,' she continues. 'We're trying to hold on to those strengths and then tidy up a few of the technical things like the the hurdle crossovers.' Lavin will compete in the relay again at the London Diamond League this weekend. The National Championships will then come into view on the August Bank Holiday weekend where she is contemplating the 200m or 100m along with the hurdles to get into Tokyo mode where she will be racing on back-to-back days. Everything is geared towards 14 and 15 September. 'Record,' she responds when asked what would be a good World Championships in her book. 'I can't control what anyone else is going to do but if I run quicker than I've done before, that's something that I can't but be proud of.' Sarah Lavin was speaking at an event to announce Spar and Eurospar as official retail partners to the Olympic Federation of Ireland and Paralympics Ireland
USA Today
27-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
The best of Olympic track and field gold medalist Lieke Klaver in images
The best of Olympic track and field gold medalist Lieke Klaver in images Klaver hasn't skipped a beat since her impressive run during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, where the talented sprinter helped Team Netherlands take home a gold medal in the mixed 4×400m relay and a silver medal in the women's 4×400m relay. Now gearing up for the summer 2025 season, Klaver is back on the track and turning heads, having already won a gold medal at the European Indoor Championships. Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver Dutch track and field star Lieke Klaver
Extra.ie
19-05-2025
- Sport
- Extra.ie
Olympic sprinter Sharlene Mawdsley hard launches relationship with GAA star
Sharlene Mawdsley beamed alongside Tipperary GAA star Michael Breen following the Premier county's win over Waterford during the weekend. Tipperary hosted Waterford at Semple Stadium on Sunday, winning on a score-line of 1-30 to 1-21. Among the 28,758 attendees was Olympic runner Sharlene Mawdsley who appeared to 'hard launch' her relationship with Tipperary corner-back, Michael Breen. The 26-year-old shared a picture alongside Michael to Instagram on Sunday evening, captioning the sweet snap: 'Tippin' on.' Friends and followers took to the comments delighted with the snap, with Michael cheekily commenting: 'Any tag nah?' before sharing the picture to his Instagram Story. 'This fan was following me around all day,' he teased. Among the 28,758 attendees was Olympic runner Sharlene Mawdsley who appeared to 'hard launch' her relationship with Tipperary corner-back, Michael Breen. Pic: Michael Breen via Sharlene Mawdsley/ Instagram Another person commented: 'Love the hard launch Sharlene,' while a third added: 'Awwwwwww shar about time.' Earlier this year, the Newport native was forced to bow out of the European Indoor Championships due to injury. Sharlene had been part of the mixed 4x400m team that raced in Apeldoorn but couldn't compete in the women's 400m race due to issues with her leg. In March, Sharlene confirmed that while she'll be out of action for awhile her injury doesn't appear to be anything too serious. Pic: INPHO/Tocko Mackic In March, Sharlene confirmed that while she'll be out of action for awhile her injury doesn't appear to be anything too serious. 'A little update as my DMs have been crazy (and lovely) asking about my leg,' she posted on Instagram, 'I was in for a scan on my hamstring yesterday. I'm blessed with the team I have around me. 'I have a small tear in my Tendon of biceps femoris (double Dutch to me). I am already starting my rehab program with my team and will hopefully be back running in the next couple of weeks.' The main goal for the Irishwoman awaits in September of this year when the World Athletics Championships comes to Tokyo. And by the time the 400m star recovers from her current injury setback, she will be in a prime position to get going as the outdoor athletics season begins once again.
Irish Times
23-04-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
World Athletics Championships in Tokyo to return to RTÉ for the first time this century
The World Athletics Championships will return to RTÉ television for the first time this century, the nine-day event taking place in Tokyo in September, and the biggest sporting stage in the world this year. About 2,000 athletes from some 200 countries will compete in the 20th edition of the championships, which take place from September 13th-21st – the second time Japan has hosted the event after Osaka in 2007, and Tokyo previously in 1991. The National Stadium, rebuilt for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, will be the venue. RTÉ have not secured any television rights in Ireland since the 1999 World Athletics Championships in Seville, but this time the national broadcaster is set to schedule live coverage of each of the nine evening sessions in Tokyo, which take place between 10.30am and 2.30pm Irish time. There will also be studio analysis from Sonia O'Sullivan , Rob Heffernan and Derval O'Rourke, and it continues from RTÉ's extensive coverage of the European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn last month, and the European Championships in Rome last June. READ MORE RTÉ did provide live coverage of the event throughout the 1990s, when O'Sullivan was at the peak on her running powers, including the 1997 World Championships in Athens, the last time RTÉ had full coverage, with studio analysis by Bill O'Herlihy with John Treacy and Eamonn Coghlan. For the 1999 championships in Seville, there was a 30-minute highlights package with commentary from Jimmy Magee. Virgin Media broadcast live coverage of the last World Athletics Championships in Budapest in August 2023, returning the event to Irish terrestrial television for the first time since Seville. After securing the Irish rights to the Diamond League last year, Virgin will again provide live coverage of the 15 meetings this summer, starting in Xiamen in China this Saturday. The second meeting in Shanghai on May 3rd is set to feature Rhasidat Adeleke , who will then lead the Irish team at the World Relays in Guangzhou in China, on May 10th-11th, where Adeleke is named in both the mixed 4x400m and women's 4x400m. The top 14 in each event in Guangzhou are automatic qualifiers for Tokyo. Six Irish athletes have already secured automatic qualifying times for Tokyo: Adeleke (200m/400m), Sharlene Mawdsley (400m), Sarah Healy and Sophie O'Sullivan (both 1,500m), Sarah Lavin (100m hurdles) and Andrew Coscoran (1,500m). The qualification cut-off date for most events is not until August 24th, at which point Ireland could have its largest number of qualifiers in World Athletics Championships history. The Tokyo schedule includes four morning sessions, reduced from previous championships, which take place in the early hours of the morning Irish time, but with the evening sessions featuring all the major finals.
Telegraph
21-04-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Amber Anning interview: The letter that inspired me to become world champion
Last month, in emotional scenes inside China's Nanjing Youth Olympic Sports Park, Amber Anning stood on top of the podium after a coming-of-age performance to win 400-metre gold at the World Indoor Championships. Her stunning triumph marked a number of firsts. It was Anning's first international title, in her first professional season after years grafting away on the American college scene, and she was Britain's first-ever female winner in the event. The stars had truly aligned. Two weeks earlier, Anning's confidence had been shredded after she was disqualified from the heats at the European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn for a lane infringement. Determined to avoid a repeat in Nanjing, she calmly recited a letter to herself before warming up. 'It was basically what I would say to the 'old Amber' and what I would say to her now,' says Anning. 'I wrote about all the sacrifices I'd made, all the events I'd missed socially, moving over to America and not wanting to feel disappointment after all the hard work I'd put in, wanting to hear the national anthem standing on the podium and going out to get what's mine. 'I wrote it at the Europeans but took the letter to the worlds and every time I read it, it put a smile on my face. It just reminded me that I had come so far and that I could go out there and achieve what I wanted to.' SHE'S DONE IT! 🥇 Great Britain's Amber Anning has won Women's 400m gold in dramatic style in Nanjing! #BBCAthletics #WorldIndoorChamps — BBC Sport (@BBCSport) March 22, 2025 Anning is speaking to Telegraph Sport from her United States training base in Arkansas, where she has returned to ready herself for the outdoor season. Unlike most emerging British talent, she made the bold decision to leave her Brighton-based family, aged 19, to make a track career for herself in the US. When she arrived at Louisiana State University on a scholarship in 2020, she was a small fish in a very big pond and began rubbing shoulders with some of the best 400m specialists in the world. Anning initially struggled to grapple with the huge cultural shock, before body-image insecurities struck. She quickly came across what it meant to be labelled 'Freshman 15' – the term is used to describe so-called weight-gain among college athletes in their first year, when they may put on up to 15 pounds. 'I wasn't running very fast and I was struggling with weight,' reflects Anning. 'The portions over here are really big and sometimes there'd be some points where I'd see myself in the mirror and just struggled with my look. 'I came to America looking really lean and really toned. When you're 18, 19, you're not developed as much in terms of lifting. During my first year, when I came back for Christmas, I don't think my parents even recognised me. 'A lot of comments were going around. I remember the team, some girls made comments that I was fat and overweight. It was mentally hard. When you're underperforming as well you've got all this stuff going on.' In her award-winning memoir Good For A Girl, Lauren Fleshman, a former middle-distance national champion, painted her own damning experience of the American college system as one severely lacking in female coaches needed to promote healthy practices. 'It can be hard to be a female sometimes,' says Anning. 'We deal with a lot, and it's about making sure that you have people around you who understand when you're on your period, you're not maybe going to be the best, like some people's are heavier than others.' Anning, though, insists her formative years in the States have been 'pretty positive' and insists the cut-throat nature of her training environments is inherently tied to her success on the track. At her maiden Olympics in Paris last year, she collected a pair of relay bronzes and finished a respectable fifth in the women's 400m final, but her career might have veered in a completely different direction after she experienced devastating loss as a teenager. The sudden passing of Anning's childhood coach, Lloyd Cowan, the esteemed trainer who masterminded Christine Ohuruogu's 2008 Olympic success in Beijing, turned Anning's world upside down. Cowan coached Anning as a junior and such was the profound influence the former Commonwealth sprint hurdler had on her career that Anning's mother helped set up the Lloyd Cowan Bursary as a way to honour his legacy after his unexpected death in 2021, which was believed to be related to Covid-19 complications. The initiative supports athletes who lack the financial means to stay in the sport. 'I was devastated,' says Anning. 'I was in a lot of disbelief. Lloyd was just such a figure and role model to me and someone who I thought would be here on this journey with me today, especially seeing what he'd done with Christine Ohuruogu. 'Those first two years [after his passing] I'd get teary even talking about it because he had such a profound impact on me. He was just such a charismatic man who had so much love and joy. At the worlds, on the podium, I was thinking, 'Lloyd, we got there! We can tick something off our list.'' How proud he would have been of his diligent pupil, who will not be parting with her lucky letter any time soon. 'It's staying in my backpack for now,' smiles Anning.
