Sarah Lavin finishes fourth in the 60m hurdles final at the European Indoor Athletics Championships.
Sarah Lavin, who claims to be “the fastest fourth place ever” set a personal season best of 7.92, narrowly missing out on a medal in a highly contested race. The race saw a European record broken by Ditaji Kambundji (7.67) of Switzerland, a Dutch national record set by Nadine Visser (7.72) and a season-best by Pia Skrzyszowska (7.83) saw her take bronze.
“Fourth is fourth, who’s happy with fourth?” asked the Emerald AC athlete when speaking to RTE after the race. Lavin has been running at her best but wants to break the 7.90 mark and beat her own personal record from 2024.
The West Limerick athlete, who was titled ‘Her Sport 2023 Personality of the Year,’ has now finished in the top seven in four major senior hurdle events without a podium position. The experienced athlete has done so in the European Championships 100m 2024, the European Indoor Championships 60m 2023, the World Indoor Championships 60m 2024, and most recently the European Indoor Championships 60m 2025.
The Lisnagry native´s focus now changes to the World Indoor Championships in China in two weeks. She achieved a Standard A time and has been granted automatic qualification for the tournament as a result. She will again be competing in the 60m hurdles category but this time against the world’s best. Lavin is hoping for a podium position and a tidy and clean new personal best in Nanjing at the end of the month.