Eimear Lambe almost didn’t make Ireland's Olympic boat due to Covid battle

Lambe contracted Covid-19 in January, at a time when the identity of the four occupants in the women’s four was still up in the air and the national trials due to come in March

Ireland’s Emily Hegarty, Fiona Murtagh, Eimear Lambe, and Aifric Keogh celebrate winning bronze in the Women's Four at the Tokyo Olympics. Picture: Mike Egerton/PA

Athletes are tested by all manner of trials long before they ever get to an Olympic Games.

Mental and physical fortitude are examined every day, not just in the weights they lift or the laps they run, but in the food they choose to put in their mouths and the times with family and friends that have to be sacrificed to a session or another early night.