Former Irish 100m and 60m indoor champion Ciara Neville has returned to racing two years after a heartbreaking injury.
The 2018 under-20 World silver medallist tore her hamstring in June 2021, just three weeks out from the National Indoor Championships where she hoped to defend her 60m title.
Since then the Limerick native has fought through two slow years of rehab, including surgery last year.
But the 23-year-old raced in the preprogramme women's 100m at the Citius meeting in Bern, Switzerland on Friday, finishing in a promising 11.9 (her personal best is 11.33).
"I've had my patience tested... [but] I'm finally starting to feel more like myself getting back into full training, spikes on and sprinting," the Emerald AC athlete told Limerick Live last week.
"There's definitely doubts, always," she said of her recovery process, "you can't be 100% ready to go, especially with an injury as long as mine was, but I had a great team around me, they kept my spirits high the whole way out, kept pushing me, kept motivating me and encouraging me."
"Of course there were tough days when I really didn't want to do it, getting off the bike and [thinking] why am I putting myself through this when I can't even run, but just thinking about the rewards at the end of it gets you through the tough days."
Neville reiterated her gratefulness in an Instagram post she shared Friday, captioned "2+ years later I'm finally back on the start line, thank you to everyone in my corner as always. Today was about getting back racing and enjoying it again, delighted to be back healthy and moving in the right direction, always hungry for more."
Neville has her sights set on the Paris Olympics next year.
Ciara Neville via Instagram
