You can feel the gratitude glowing off Sarah Lavin when you talk to her. Maybe that's because she knows in her heart, better than most athletes, how close the end can be. She watched all her Olympic dreams crumble one day when she rolled her ankle in a freakishly simple turn on an indoor track. Broken hearted after previously piecing herself back together from other injuries, she had to resign herself to the fact the Tokyo games were gone from her grasp. Everything changed with COVID. The sad circumstances that prevented the games from taking place allowed her the time to recover, train, refocus and climb into the top 40 hurdlers in the planet. 

This week she spoke to me from her training camp about her first steps in athletics, the temptations of alcohol in Ireland, second chances, Gerard Hartman, patience, presence and the mad thoughts that go through her head on the start line.Part 2 of this interview can be found at www.patreon.com/irishmanabroad

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