When Ciara Neville steps onto the track in Torun on Saturday morning to compete in the 60m at the World Indoor Championships, she will be closing a challenging chapter with a satisfying full-circle moment.
The last time Neville represented Ireland in her own right, and not as part of a relay squad, was as a 21-year-old at the 2021 European Indoor Championships in the same stadium that will hold the 2026 global Championships.
Like any young person should, she thought her career in the sport was clearly laid out. Olympics, national records, multiple finals, and if you are dreaming big, maybe a medal or two.
But instead the Limerick native suffered a near career-ending injury in the following summer that saw her go under the knife and compete sparingly for two years.
"It's obviously so exciting as a teenager to be going to those major championships, and you think that that's going to be the trajectory, that it's just going to carry on like that, but in 2021 I was in the midst of qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics... I actually tore my tendon proximally off the bone at the top of my hamstring," Neville told RTÉ Sport.
It took until the summer of 2025 for the 26-year-old to find full speed again, and she described the injured hamstring as feeling alien during her long journey back to the track.
"It just took a lot longer than anticipated to get back sprinting, we couldn't get the strength back in the right leg to match the left leg which obviously is really frustrating as a sprinter," she said.
"When I first got back running, it felt like I was running with someone else's leg. It just didn't feel like it was a part of me.
"From not running for so long, it felt like it was such just a foreign thing. Nothing was moving smoothly."
Neville is now in flying form, running a personal best time of 7.26 over the 60m event for the first time in six years, but considers her comeback incomplete as she has yet to better her 100m best of 11.33 from 2019, a goal she hopes will be ticked off this summer.
"I still haven't PB'd outdoors, so I guess you could say we haven't actually come out the other side in the 100m yet," she said.
"I got injured in 2021, that season I ran 11.47, before getting injured. Last year, I think I ran 11.40... I ran faster than I did that year, but hopefully this year I can run a new PB (personal best)."
Neville comes into the championships ranked 34th on season's best, having gained entry via the quota system.
Medals might not be on her mind for this championship, but the likes of Kate O'Connor have opened Irish athletes' eyes to breaking new ground for success.
She also shares a coach with Irish 100m hurdle record holder Sarah Lavin, who has been another source of inspiration.
Neville said: "Even looking at Kate (O'Connor), and looking at Sarah Lavin, who I train with every day, making world finals and really pushing the top of the world.
"There's no ceiling on what we can achieve and having Noelle (Morrissey) as a coach and having her guide Sarah to those finals really just gives me so much hope.
"I think I haven't come close to my full potential yet, so I think it's going to be an exciting few years."
The Emerald AC athlete will also have one eye on the national record of 7.15, held by Rhasidat Adeleke since 2024.
"I'm definitely going out there looking to PB, I think every sprinter has their eye on a national record, I have my eye on that 7.15," she added.
"I’m looking to go out in the first round and really set a good standard and hopefully make the semi-finals and once you’re in the semi-finals you can really let loose and see what you can do."
Listen to live updates from the World Athletics Championships on Saturday and Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1.
