Everard gives her all in 800m heats

Everard gives her all in 800m heats

Ciara Everard (UCD) gave her all but ultimately finished 8th in heat 1 of the women’s 800m in 2:07.91.

Everard had a race against time after a ten week injury lay-off due to a navicular stress fracture. “I made the classic mistake of pushing too hard in Olympic year and got injured,” said the Kilkenny woman afterwards. “I was as positive as possible and got the most out of myself. I know I’m better than that.

“I love competing. It’s been a tough summer watching the Europeans from the sidelines. I was so up for it today even off limited preparation. It’s championships like this that gets you through the winter months. This is what it’s all about. I’m annoyed I wasn’t able to do myself justice but it is what it is.

“It’s been my first year training full-time. It’s all a learning curve and I feel I’ve learned a lot. In my mind mentally I feel I’ve come on a lot this year. I’ve had a lot of challenges and this year and I’ve learned to adapt to them. As an athlete you have to learn to adapt to situations and I look forward to doing myself justice in the future.”

Everard, a qualified physiotherapist, was full of praise for the Institute of Sport for getting to her on the start line in one piece.

“The institute have been absolutely fantastic,” she said. “The medical team there are an absolute credit to themselves. There’s world class facilities and world class service providers. They have been phenomenal. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them. I really appreciate them. It’s about moving on from here now.”