By Caoimh\u00edn Reilly<\/p>\n
UL\u2019s very own Olympic hero Michelle Finn has insisted that her aim is to qualify for another Olympic Games.<\/p>\n
The 3,000 metres steeplechaser finished 11th in her semi-final heat at the Rio Olympics in August with a time of 9:49.45. However, despite missing out on the final, which by her own admission was a long-shot, the Cork native is content with her performance and insists that she would like to compete again in four-year\u2019s time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was relatively happy. I would have liked to have run faster and I think that I should have ran a bit faster, but it was a great experience so yes, I was happy and I\u2019d like to go back, definitively.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 26-year-old PE and Irish student had set certain targets down prior to the competition, one of which would have been to make the final and\/or surpass her personal best. Despite not doing either, Finn remains upbeat about her performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think that I hit any of those targets, but I wasn\u2019t that far off any of them either. I finished the race and I wasn\u2019t that tired which to me is not a great race. I don\u2019t think that I could have made the final, but I was definitely fit enough to run a personal best and I didn\u2019t, but sometimes that happens and you just have to accept it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Castlemagner athlete competed in her event alongside fellow Team Ireland members, Sara-Louise Treacy and Kerry O\u2019Flaherty. Finn admits that there is a competitive edge to their relationship, however, she feels that they bring the best out of each other.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt (their rivalry) definitely didn\u2019t hinder preparations. The three of us are actually very good friends, but we are also very competitive I suppose which is good for us because on any given day we can beat each other. We tend to keep each other on our toes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we were all pretty contented. Most people in athletics did well and the best that they could have hoped to do. Tom Barr was amazing and even just the whole spirit of the team was really good because even when we weren\u2019t competing or before our events we\u2019d be watching to see how the others were doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michelle ran her personal best in Amsterdam in July, 2016 (9:43.19) with her time being more than four seconds quicker than the time she achieved in Rio. As a consequence of her performance earlier in the summer, expectation levels grew within her camp prior to her race in the Brazilian capital.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there was an expectation on me, but only from myself and my coaches. They (her coaches) were so nice to me after the race, but we all knew that I could have ran faster. It was going to be a long shot for me to reach the final anyway, so I don\u2019t think that it was a huge disappointment to be honest.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAmsterdam was probably the best. It was funny with the amount of work that you put in because I actually ran that qualifying time last year in Letterkenny on the July, 10th and the final in Amsterdam where I ran my PB (Personal Best) was the 10th of July a year later, with point something of a second in the difference. It\u2019s funny to look at it like that I suppose.\u201d<\/p>\n
As has been well documented, UL had two athletes representing Team Ireland at the Olympic Games, Michelle and Thomas Barr. <\/p>\n
With Finn and Barr being the most recent in a long line of UL Olympians, Michelle gave An Focal an insight into what exactly UL offers to athletes which makes it so distinctive.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s just so obviously an elite sporting college, the facilities are really good, there are lots of teams to train with and the support network is here to help you succeed. It\u2019s helpful when you also have someone to go running with and in UL, you always have someone to do that with.\u201d<\/p>\n