Eimear Lambe happy to put life on hold in search of Olympic glory in Paris

European Week of Sport ambassador Eimear Lambe: Relocating to Cork to get the marginal gains ahead of Paris 2024. Picture: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Olympic medalist Eimear Lambe has revealed she's already targeting Paris 2024 and will happily put her life on hold again to chase further success.

Rower Lambe won bronze in the Women's Four event at the Tokyo Olympics last month alongside Aifric Keogh, Fiona Murtagh and Emily Hegarty.

At the half-way stage of the final they were in fifth position, requiring a powerful finish to get on the podium.

Speaking at the launch of European Week of Sport 2021, which runs from September 23 to 30, Lambe said that starting faster is an obvious area to target.

The Cabra native said she's fully committed to relocating to Cork again too, Ireland's rowing hub, to search for those marginal gains.

"That's where the national centre is and if you want to take it on full-time and take it on seriously, you have to move down," said Lambe, who made the decision to uproot and relocate from Dublin after graduating from UCD in 2019.

"That summer we had the qualifiers and we just missed out by two places and I was like, 'You know what, there's one more chance. We've missed out by two places and there'll be two more places up for grabs in May. Surely if I go down and commit full-time and give it everything, we can really get this boat moving'.

"I was meant to start a graduate position that September but I asked if I could defer it and they were really nice and generous and let me defer it.

"So I moved down then to fully commit to training for that year and that obviously became two years with Covid. I'm going to be back up in Dublin for a little while but I'll probably have to do the same again and relocate if I want to go to Paris."

Lambe said she enjoys life in Cork, where the National Rowing Centre is located. A typical training day can start at 7am and end 12 hours later with a couple of hours in between for food and naps.

"Because there's so much involved and because you have to sacrifice so much, if you're not enjoying the day to day then it's not something that's sustainable," said the 24-year-old.

"If you're not going to enjoy it every day, you're not going to try as hard and you're not going to get as much out of it. I feel like you could become resentful. It's hard to sustain that for two years if you're not loving it.

"I'm just lucky that I really love rowing and I love the people down there and when I move down I enjoy it."

Lambe plays a key role in the boat as the race strategist, making crucial calls and plays while on the water.

"In the race it's my job at certain points and certain markers to call out and say what we're doing," she explained. "In the final, when we were neck and neck with GB, we knew we had to do something big to try to push beyond them. That's when it would be my job to call a sprint. If I felt we needed to go earlier, it would be my job to call it earlier."

Lambe believes European Week of Sport can help push participation rates in all sports, not just rowing.

"A lot of people are like, 'Oh, sport isn't for me' but sport is so versatile, I really believe there's something for everybody out there," she said.

- European Week of Sport is a week-long celebration of sport which promotes physical activity in people of all ages, backgrounds, or fitness levels. Sport Ireland is calling on you and your family to get out and #BeActive between the 23rd - 30th of September. For more information and to find an event near you see www.sportireland.ie/europeanweekofsport