Louise Shanahan was in action at the European Youth Olympic Trials in Baku, Azerbaijan this weekend, where she put in a fantastic performance in the 800m. On Saturday morning she comfortably qualified from the first heat, finishing in second place behind the Italian athlete who had the fastest PB in the field of 2:06.
On Sunday evening, she was in action again in the final, which was held in swelteringly hot conditions. It was a tactical affair, and after an opening lap of 66.23, it came down to the last 200m with all eight athletes still in contention. Louise battled hard and in a very tight finish she finished 5th in 2:11.70.
This was a great weekend’s work by Louise, and she stands a very good chance of progressing to represent the European team at the 2014 World Youth Olympic Games, which will be held in Nanjing, China in August.