There was incredible news for local athlete Marcus Lawler earlier this week as the Carlow sprinter confirmed his place on Team Ireland for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The 200m sprinter told KCLR’s Sunday Scoreline that it was “a dream” to qualify for the Olympics for the first time in his career.
He said: “It’s unbelievable. I don’t even know how to put it into words but it was a very anxious couple of months checking if I would be going or not and when the official selection was made I was absolutely thrilled. It’s a great achievement and I’m really proud.”
Lawler says that he is just looking forward to getting on the track in the first round in Japan.
“I’m just glad that I’ve made it because the qualification for the Olympics is cut throat and the top 56 200m sprinters in the world qualify and I’m really ecstatic that I am one of them and hopefully I can put my best foot forward now,” said Lawler.
The Clonliffe Harriers clubman is relishing the opportunity to perform at the pinnacle of the sport.
“It has been such a hard task to get to the Olympics and that was my dream and thankfully I’ve made it.
“My dream at the Olympics is to make a semi-final but I’m not looking past round one. I just want to enjoy it as well because this is what I always wanted.”
