‘I didn’t plan it’: Carlow Olympian’s shock at European Championship semi-final qualification
An Olympic 200m runner from Carlow has expressed his shock at qualifying for the semi-finals in the European Athletics Championships
An Olympian from Carlow has expressed his shock at qualifying for the semi-finals in the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham.
Marcus Lawler, who runs the 200m, qualified from the third heat with a time of 20.94 seconds.
Lawler placed in fifth place in the race, allowing him to qualify as one of the fastest losers.
“Ah look, it’s good,” Marcus told an RTÉ Sport reporter after hearing that he qualified for the semi-final.
“It wasn’t a bad oul run,” he added.
Marcus started the first 50m strong before dropping to fifth towards the end.
He hadn’t run any races this season ahead of today’s run.
Marcus has been recovering from an injury over the past year.
He had been trying to enjoy race while feeling the pressure of recovering while running.
“I’m delighted, I’m proud of that one,” Marcus said.
He commended his mother, who has “put in lots of work.”
“It’s a good result for us,” Marcus said.
He will compete in the semi-final later this evening, something that came as a shock to him.
“To tell you the truth now, I didn’t even plan this, the semi-final. I was just taking it one race at a time and maybe as unprofessional as it sounds, I didn’t look forward to anything other than round one,” Marcus said.
The semi-final will take place at 8:05pm Irish time and can be steamed on the RTÉ Player.