Heffernan remaining tight-lipped over future as he targets medals

ROB HEFFERNAN will look to bring the curtain down on his career with a fairy-tale ending in London this morning. The 39year-old had planned to retire after the Olympics in Rio last year, though returns to the scene of his fourth place finish at London 2012.

‘It’s been good,’ explained the 2013 world champion on his preparations to join Sonia O’Sullivan as a two-time World Championship medallist. ‘The biggest decision for me was coming back,’ revealed Heffernan.

‘I did okay in Rio but the Olympics were such a washout that it would have been bad to leave on that note. The biggest decision for me to come back was committing to that lifestyle for another 11 months,’ he added, refusing to confirm if today will be his final race.

‘The first five, six months of the year, once you get through that you can reap the rewards,’ continued Heffernan, who upgraded to Olympic bronze from London 2012 last year after Russian gold medallist Sergey Kirdyapkin was disqualified for doping.

‘I’m looking forward to it and I’m turning it into an opportunity,’ smiled the 39-yearold. ‘I want to beat the young fellas.’

The fairytale finish may be about to come true, as World and Olympic champion Slovakian Matej Tóth is missing due to a doping investigation while Russian athletes are suspended.

Also absent is Australian Jared Tallent, who withdrew before the championships began due to a pulled hamstring, meaning Heffernan is now in contention for a medal.

World record holder Yohann Diniz of France, Canada’s Evan Dunfee and Japan’s Hirooki Arai will be Heffernan’s main rivals.

‘It’s the desire and the willing to hurt on the day, will it be there? I’m ticking the boxes in training but you can’t take anything for granted,’ he admitted.

There was bad news, however, for Heffernan’s prodigy Brendan Boyce, who withdrew from the 50km walk having suffered a grade one hamstring tear in training.

Boyce had hoped for a top 12 finish after posting a new personal best of 3:49.49 when finishing fourth at the European Cup in May. Alex Wright brings Ireland’s involvement at London 2017 to an end in the 20km walk, which begins at 2:20pm.

Wright finished sixth in the European 20km Cup last May and will look for a top 20 finish, having finished 26th in Rio last year.