Sarah Lavin will keep late partner Craig Breen "close to her, as always" at Olympics
Shane Lowry and Sarah Lavin, the two Ireland flagbearers, spoke of their excitement to be a central part of tonight's Opening Ceremony on the Seine
Ireland's Olympic flagbearer Sarah Lavin says that she will keep her late partner Craig Breen close to her over the next few days as she prepares to compete at Paris 2024.
Breen tragically lost his life in a rally car accident in April of last year and Lavin later said that her heart was broken by his loss.
After the announcement that Lavin and Shane Lowry will be the flagbearers on the river Seine for tonight's Opening Ceremony, the Limerick sprint hurdler reflected on what has been a tough year.
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"Yeah, it’s been incredible difficult from a performance perspective," the 30-year-old said. "Going into Tokyo, I’d broken 13 seconds once and this time round I think I’ve qualified 10 times in the last 12 months for this Games. I was the last person on the plane the last time round, I think I was the first from the athletics side this time.
"I’m running for a lot. And I hope to keep Craig close to me for the next few days, as always."
Lavin smiled as he recalled when she received a call from the Olympic Federation of Ireland about taking on the flagbearer role a few weeks ago. "The hardest person to try and keep it a secret was my mother," she laughed. "I think it was kept kind of quiet until this morning, but it was a tough one for the parents to hold."
And Lowry, joking that the local newspaper in Tullamore would have had the news had he told his mother, grinned: "I didn’t tell my Mum until the other day!
"It would have been in the Tullamore Tribune a couple of weeks ago if I did! I told a couple of people. Neil Manchip, our team manager here, he obviously knew. Some of my team knew, I kept it as quiet as I could. It’s a huge honour, something I’m very excited to be part of."
Both athletes said that they didn't have to think about it when the offer was made. "It was a no-brainer," said Lavin. "It’s the greatest honour anyone could be given. I was crying when I found out initially. It doesn’t much to make my mom cry if I’m crying, so...I think it's just an incredibly emotional day.
Lowry added: "My parents are the same. My parents follow me all over the world to do what I do. They’re going to be here next week for the Games, they’re not here today. Yeah, obviously incredibly proud, they always are. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of pictures on the wall in the coming days, they won’t even take that long.
"I’m looking forward to seeing them next week and them watching me out there competing. It’s an incredible thing to happen to anybody and I’m just very happy it's me."
For Lowry and Lavin, taking the time out for the ceremony is not a distraction - Lowry even flew into Paris especially for the event, and will fly home tomorrow before returning early next week ahead of competing at Le Golf National.
This is the perfect tonic for him after leading The Open at Troon last week before the final two rounds didn't go to plan. "As a golfer and a sportsperson I live day to day, last week was the Open, it nearly went according to plan," he said. "Straight after that it was in my head to go and redeem myself in a couple of weeks in Paris, but obviously I have today as well.
"It’s a really nice distraction to have. Don’t get me wrong, the first few days of this week were hard, I was a but sour, and you’re waking up in the morning wonder what you could have done differently last weekend.
"But the excitement that's around something like this, to be honest I'm looking forward to getting down to the Village now and seeing the excitement around the whole place and yeah, living it up for the next 24 hours. It will be cool."
Lavin isn't competing until late in the schedule - on Wednesday, August 7. "You’re at the Olympic Games, there are plenty of distractions," said Lavin. "This is just simply an honour, and one of the greatest every Irish sportsperson could have.
"To carry the Irish flag on the centenary anniversary, it’s incredibly special. I don’t think there are many honours you could be given in life that can match up to this. I think we'll see the best of France, it is a really patriotic nation and we're going to see some of that tonight."
The biggest issue could be holding the flag, given how big it is. "We might take turns," Lowry declared. "Sarah's stronger than me, anyway!", to which Lavin replied: "I'm absolutely not! I'm strong in the lower body, you have to use the upper body!"
For both athletes, Sonia O'Sullivan was their initial Olympic inspiration. Lowry recalls being in school in Clara for the Sydney Games when O'Sullivan was competing.
"Obviously you go on over the years then and Katie sticks out well in people's heads, and us as a team here, we're hoping to be that person for the kids at home watching it," he said. "I'd give anything to win a medal, that's what I'm here for and it would just be an unbelievable thing to achieve."
And Lavin remarked: "Sonia was also my first Olympic memory, and it's no coincidence! Sonia was our last medal on the track and please God that can be replicated, we have a really strong athletics team here and hopefully we can put together some great performances and make the country proud."
Another source of pride is that stitched onto Lavin's ceremonial gown is the Limerick crest, while Lowry has the Offaly crest on his sleeve. "I think it's very special," said Lavin. "I didn’t realise I was the only person from Limerick. Because when I saw the pink crest, I was thinking, 'oh gosh, this might be trouble for somebody else', I loved it but I wasn’t sure about everybody else.
"But Laura (Weber, the designer), said 'that one had you in mind'. But to represent the county, Limerick is a great sporting county. Our hurlers were unfortunate.
Lowry interjected: "They’ve been good for long enough!".
Lavin continued: "I think between Munster rugby and everything, we’ve a very good sports hub in Limerick and to be representing Limerick on the greatest sporting stage in the world is amazing."
And Offaly? Flying again at the hurling with their recent All-Ireland under-20 hurling championship? "Yeah, well we’re doing alright," he smiled. "But yeah, to have the Offaly crest, I’m an incredibly proud Offaly man.
"We’ve got five athletes here this week from Offaly which is great. I’ve met a few of them, I know Grainne Walsh and I know her family pretty well so that’s my one goal over the next week is to go and watch her compete. Our friends are very good friends. I’m patriotic, I’m Irish but I’m Offaly as well. I love what I do and yeah, I’m very excited."
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