WHEN things get hard, when her legs are failing, her lungs burning, and her stomach feeling ready to unpack its contents, Ciara Neville thinks of one thing: Tokyo.

Limerick sprinter Ciara Neville (18), from Monaleen, is already the joint seventh fastest Irishwoman in history and was seventh in the European junior 100m final last summer. Today she is hoping to maintain her unbeaten record in the Irish Schools T&F Championships where she will be competing, for the last time, for Castletroy College, four days before she starts her Leaving Cert?

Ciara Neville’s life in the fast lane seemed to be running on fumes long before the Castletroy teenager had even gotten into top gear but a hard edge and support now sees her on the cusp of her first senior international championship.

Robert Heffernan crowned a fairytale season when he was named Athlete of the Year at the National Athletics Awards at the Crowne Plaza in Dublin yesterday.