Sarah's Ireland hat-trick
All-round talent – Fingallians ace Sarah McCarthy is also an accomplished hurdler.
Wednesday February 24 2010
FINGALLIANS athlete Sarah McCarthy exceeded her wildest dreams when scooping three gold medals on her schools international debut in Cardiff's indoor arena at the weekend.
The 15-year-old from Whitehall set the tone for the day's events by storming to victory in the Under-16 long jump with a personal best of 5.71m, smashing her previous mark by 28cm.
Then it was straight onto the track for the 200m, where Sarah claimed another PB, going under 26 seconds for the first time as the clock stopped at 25.86.
And the Maryfield College student's first outing in the Ireland singlet didn't end there as she went on to anchor the 4x200m squad to another victory that clinched a hat-trick of golds. Showing again that she is in the form of her life, Sarah ran a remarkable time of around 25.5 seconds for her leg.
And her baggage allowance for the flight home must have been severely tested when she also won a lovely crystal vase after being named Athlete of the Meeting – having shattered the stadium record for the long jump by 17cm.
Sarah's long-time coach Sandra Daly said: 'I can't think of another international debut like it, but it was not unexpected because the training has been going so well.
'Athletes can get very nervous [before their first international meeting], but Sarah excels when she needs to and she has poise and grace and conducts herself so well.
'She did a perfect jump and was perfect on the board, and then she went straight to the 200m which was on 10 minutes later and had little time to recover.
'She had a good start and just led the whole way, pulling away more towards the end. There was no-one to push her.'
- Marcus CAVAROLI
