Athletics round-up: Sarah Lavin dejected after European hurdles ...

The Limerick athlete qualified for the final in stunning style, winning her semi-final against one of the pre-race favourites Ditaji Kambundji.

This performance raised her medal hopes for the final but unfortunately for Lavin it wasn’t to be, with a fault at the second hurdle stopping her cruelly in her tracks.

She recovered well to run a sub 13 sprint but it was nowhere near her best, and left her disappointed after the race.

France’s Cyrena Samba-Mayela went onto win the race in a new championship record time of 12.3, with Kambunji Pia Skrzyszowska taking the minor medals.

“I got out well to the first hurdle but then smashed the second, so the race was gone,” Lavin told RTÉ sport’s David Gillick after the race.

“Right now, it’s just very raw. I bottled it,” she said.

“It’s not the placing. I know that my performance can be much better than that.

“I’ll be grateful that the Olympics are only a few weeks away and I’ll come back but if losing didn’t hurt, winning wouldn’t matter.”

When it was put to her by Gillick that she can take positives from the championships, Lavin said that at this moment, she couldn’t see them.

“I’m sure I will, but right now…no.”

Meanwhile, former European champ Sonia O’Sullivan was scathing in her analysis of Brian Fay, who finished in 14th place in the men’s 5000m, behind Jakob Ingebrigtsen who won gold.

“He can do this. But sure, what’s the point when you’re off the back like that,” she said.

“You need to be close.

“He looks like he’s getting past a number of people, but if he’s got speed like that, then he obviously didn’t try hard enough early on to go with the pack when the break was there.

“Brian is very good in a consistent race where they’re running even laps the whole way but this was a typical championship race where it’s messy, and their pace is up and down.”