RTÉ Sport journalist
You wait seven years to set a new personal best, and then six come along all at once; it s been quite the indoor season for Limerick athlete Sarah Lavin.
A junior prospect on the international stage, Lavin was ranked fourth in the world, and back at the start of 2014, the teenage sensation was being tipped for the top with all roads leading to the 2016 Olympic Games.
Dreams of representing at Rio faded as a string of setbacks delayed the transition from the youth and junior ranks into senior success.
And then came Tokyo.
Yet again, Lavin looked in danger of missing out as she recovered from an injury that would severely curtail her ability to qualify for the Games that were scheduled for the summer of 2020.
Updated / Sunday, 7 Mar 2021
18:02
Tobin finshed 11th in the 3000-metre final
Sean Tobin came home 11th in the final of the 3000 metres at the European Indoor Athletics Championships in Torun, Poland this afternoon.
The Clonmel athlete was in the leading pack early on, but an injection of pace from eventual winner Jakob Ingebrigtsen split the field with Tobin ending up in the chasing group.
He ran a time of 7:58:11, which was over 10 seconds slower than his semi-final run, while the Norwegian added 3000 metre gold to his earlier 1500 metre first place.
Watch as Jakob Ingebrigsten wins the 3000m final where @SeanTobin94 finished 11th in a time of 7:58.11 #Torun2021@irishathletics#rtesportpic.twitter.com/P2KRH8IRWm
Anticipation builds ahead of Tobin s 3000m final today tippfm.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from tippfm.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Sport Journalist
Much has been made of the size of the 23-strong Irish team which will compete over the four days of the upcoming European Indoor Championships in Torun this weekend, but ultimately the currency of success is medals and winning even one from four days of competition looks a daunting task.
The Ireland team, however, has had a long and happy relationship with the most accessible championship for its athletes who earned two podium successes from the last staging in 2019.
Mark English, the bronze medallist over 800 metres in Glasgow last time out, returns to a championship which has seen him also win silver in Prague back in 2015.