Sarah Lavin exits European hurdles despite season-best run

Lavin’s season best isn’t enough

Lavin, 32, one of Ireland's European Athletics Championships team, finished sixth in her heat and 15th overall, one place short of the semi-finals.

Lavin clocked 13.07 (+0.6), a season best, but needed a sub-13-second run to progress at these European Championships.

There was disappointment elsewhere for Ireland too, with Ciara Neville finishing eighth in her 100m semi-final, though Nick Griggs salvaged a top-10 finish in the 5000m final despite losing a shoe during the race.

Sarah Lavin sets sights on Los Angeles

I really thought I could get out of the heat here. It's a season's best after a turbulent couple of months, and I'm proud I got to the line and delivered my best run of the season, but I want to be in finals.

“I knew I had to be sub-13 to qualify. I've gone under 13 seconds 52 times in my life, but my legs just didn't lift to the same capacity over the last three hurdles,” Lavin told The42. She said getting back under 13 seconds by the end of the season would be “a fantastic building block” going into next year and the road to LA.