Irish Olympian Sarah Lavin has revealed her heartbreak at the loss of her recently deceased partner, the much-loved World Rally Championship driver Craig Breen.
Breen passed away on April 13 after a collision during a pre-event test ahead of the 2023 Croatia Rally. The much-loved Waterford man was 33.
Lavin, Ireland's top 100m hurdler, was in Tenerife on a training camp when she received a phone call to tell her the tragic news.
READ MORE: Craig Breen funeral hears heartbreaking tributes paid to 'the guy behind the helmet'
"I love Craig dearly, I love his family dearly, and I miss him everyday, I'm completely heartbroken," she confided. "Craig was my partner, we were together for a while.
"Craig was a great athlete. I think a lot of people thought he just jumped into a car and was naturally talented, but he worked his butt off too. He was also at training camp this year, it's such a massively physical sport.
"We were both equally as busy, we spent the same time doing gym and other things and it was great to see the effort it takes. It's fascinating, I guess, to see what goes into being someone who is in the WRC.
"But I don't know if I'll go back to Tenerife again."
Lavin, 29, has found the strength over the last couple of months to keep going with her full-time athletics career.
She says that Breen's approach to life inspired her to push on with her track dreams, which includes a tilt at a second Olympics with Paris 2024 just over a year away.
"He just tried to take every day in a step by step way," she explained.
"He had the biggest smile. His smile and laugh was infectious and I'm very fortunate to know he was living out his childhood dreams - and it was a no-brainer for me to get back out there."
Lavin adds that she wants to make Breen's parents Jackie and Ray, his sister Kellie, his brother-in-law Darragh and his godson Bobbie proud, as well as her own family and her coach Noelle Morrissey, who she has worked with since she was only seven-years-old.
"They have all been pillars of strength for me in the last two months," said Lavin, who will be a Team Ireland flag bearer at the European Games in Poland next month.
"I'll be thinking of him of course. He was a very, very special person, a beautiful soul inside and out, on top of being a brilliant athlete.
"He was a pet. I just want to do him proud."
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