Sarah Lavin produced a sensational performance in still conditions yesterday evening to break Phil Healy’s national 100m record in Bellinzona, Switzerland.
The Emerald A.C. star clocked an impressive 11.27 to knock one hundredth of a second off the record Healy had set at a Dublin Graded meeting in Santry five years ago.
Lavin was racing in the B race at the Gala dei Castelli meet in the Swiss city where she finished second behind Italy’s Zaynab Dosso who crossed the line in 11.15.
Sarah Lavin becomes ‘Ireland’s fastest woman’
It marks the second national record that the 29-year-old has broken is as many weeks having taken down the mark in the 100m Hurdles to 11.62 in the semi-final of the World Championships in Budapest, finishing tenth overall in the world.
That record had been held by Derval O’Rourke (11.65) since 2010.
Lavin returned to action in the hurdles later in yesterday evening’s programme finishing fifth in 12.70, a race in which Puerto Rico’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn won in 12.56.
Interestingly now Lavin becomes the first Irish athlete since Maeve Kyle to hold both the 100m and 100m Hurdles records at the same time.
Kyle broke the 100m record in July 1963 and hurdles record in July 1969. She held both simultaneously for eleven months until Margaret Murphy became Ireland’s fastest woman in June 1970 at the Cork City Sports.
Thomas Barr made a welcome return to the track after missing the World Championships with a calf injury in the Men’s 400m Hurdles. The Ferrybank athlete finished sixth in 51.01.
Despite recording one of his slowest times in recent years, Barr was delighted to be back in action.
“Contrary to popular belief, I’m actually very happy with tonight’s race,” he said on Instagram.
“It wasn’t about the result. A month ago with a grade two calf tear the goal posts were completely moved. World Championships was out of the question, but I needed to focus to make sure I set myself up well for 2024 and didn’t fall further onto the back foot.
“Having a race lined up kept me and my rehab on track. The new goal was to get to the start line and finish healthy,” he continued.
“It’s not the season I wanted but for right now it’s mission accomplished, 2023 behind us, and looking forward to 2024.”
Luke McCann was also in action at the same meet last night where he finished fifth in the 1500m in 3.35.54.
