Sarah Lavin (Emerald AC) has advanced to the semi-finals of the Women’s 100m Hurdles on Day Nine of the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
Lavin ran a time of 12.99s to secure automatic qualification to the next round which will take place at 1:10am Irish Time on Monday morning. The Limerick woman finished third in her heat behind Tobi Amusan of Nigeria and Danielle Williams of Jamaica. Amusan ran a new African record of 12.40s.
Lavin will be delighted to have progressed and speaking to the Irish Runner last week believes that she will have to run a 12.70s time to make the final.
Sarah Lavin qualifies for world semi-final
“I know I’m capable, I’m in the best shape of my life but I have to do it. It’s not just a roll of a dice, it’s about being in that moment, doing everything right in that moment and then hopefully I do something special,” she said.
Brendan Boyce (Finn Valley AC) will also be in action on the final day of the championships. The Donegal man who finished sixth in the World Championships in 2019 and tenth in last summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo competes in the Men’s 35k Walk.
World Athletics has removed the 50k Walk from the programme and replaced it with the 35k Walk, a blow to many athletes including Boyce. Coached by Robert Heffernan, Boyce has voiced his discontent about the 50k being removed.
“If running had the option of only having two events I’m sure they wouldn’t pick two events close in distance like 800m/1500m but in racewalking this is what is now the case 20k/35k is basically the same event,” he tweeted yesterday.
The 35-year-old goes into the race on the back of recent injury struggles. He has a Personal Best of 2.32.49 and a Season’s Best of 2.44.29 set at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships in Muscat, Oman back in March.
The race gets underway at 2:15pm Irish Time. Japan’s Masatora Kawano has the fastest Season’s Best in the field this season. Miguel Angel Gomez from Spain is the fastest European in the field.
