Two of Ireland's leading sprinters will be back in action this evening at the Anhalt Meeting Dessau in Germany.
Sarah Lavin returns to European competition following a productive spell in Asia.
The Emerald AC athlete opened her outdoor campaign at the Taipei City Open in Taiwan, a World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meeting, where she progressed to the final against strong international opposition.
She followed that performance with victory at last week's Hong Kong Open, a Continental Tour Bronze event, continuing an encouraging start to the season.
Unlike many athletes currently competing across Europe, Lavin is not chasing qualification standards or ranking points to secure a championship place. Having already achieved the required standard for Birmingham, her focus is now firmly on building race sharpness and fine tuning her preparations ahead of the major championships later this summer.
While the opposition in Dessau represents a step up from some of her recent races, it is exactly the sort of competition Lavin will be looking for at this stage of the season.
Also in action is Bori Akinola, who continues his pursuit of the European Championships automatic qualifying mark.
The UCD AC sprinter came agonisingly close to securing the standard earlier this season when he clocked a personal best of 10.19 seconds at the Stratford Speed GP, just 0.04 seconds outside the required 10.15.
Since then, Akinola has remained busy on the circuit, although he has yet to reproduce the form that delivered that breakthrough performance.
Sprint margins are notoriously fine, however, and one strong race can change everything.
With favourable conditions, a fast field and a good start, tonight could provide another opportunity for the Irish record contender to edge closer to the qualifying mark.\
Below is when Bori and Sarah are due to take the track in Germany this evening:
🇩🇪 Anhalt Meeting Dessau
⏰ 5:30pm – 🏃♂️ Sarah Lavin – Womens 110m Hurdles SF
⏰ 6:28pm – 🏃🏿♂️ Bori Akinola – Men's 100m SF
⏰ 6:50pm – 🏃♂️ Sarah Lavin – Womens 110m Hurdles Final*
⏰ 7:40pm – 🏃🏿♂️ Bori Akinola – Men's 100m Final*
*Subject to Qualifcation
📄 Starting List
📺 Watch Live (Worldwide Stream)
📊 Results
With Lavin continuing her championship preparations and Akinola still hunting a place in Birmingham, Irish athletics fans will have plenty to keep an eye on in Dessau this evening.
