Healy hopes for a Dutch of luck
Rising star takes on Europe’s best talent
AFTER a dream season, today offers a chance for the perfect finish. For Sarah Healy, 2018 will be remembered as the year in which the Dubliner shot from relative anonymity to being touted as a future star of Irish athletics.
She may, however, be a star already. The 17-year-old won double gold at the European Under-18 Championships in the summer, carved up the Irish underage record books throughout the year, and clocked what was by far the fastest 1,500m time in the world by an under-18 athlete this year (4:09.25) – all of this while still playing hockey for her school and preparing for her Leaving Certificate next year at Holy Child Secondary School, Killiney.
The test Healy faces this morning in Tilburg, the Netherlands, will be like nothing she has encountered before.
It will be her first time racing at the European Cross Country Championships, taking on the continent’s best teenagers in the U20 women’s 4,300m race, which goes to the line at 9.45am and will be streamed live on the European Athletics website (RTÉ will have deferred coverage of the race, going live for the senior races at midday).
It’s a huge step up in class for Healy, but then again cross country was always her first love. ‘It’s what I first started doing and I was always better at cross country than track,’ she said. ‘I think it’s less daunting because there’s less pressure. The competition is better but it’s less scary.’
Her year to date has witnessed some top-notch performances. In February, having just turned 17, she obliterated Rio Olympian Kerry O’Flaherty to win the Irish senior indoor 3,000m title in 9:10.43, slicing 18 seconds off the Irish U20 indoor record.
In July, she went to Gyor, Hungary and made a late decision to enter the 3,000m race in addition to her usual event – the 1500m – at the European U18 Championships. She won gold with ease in both races, setting a pair of championship records.
‘I never thought I was going to run the times I did,’ she admitted.
Coached by Eoghan Marnell at Blackrock AC, Healy runs about 40 miles a week in training, with her running workouts moved around to accommodate her hockey – a sport she still plays two to three days a week. While there are countless scholarship offers on the table to attend college in America, Healy admits she is unlikely to follow the wellworn path taken by many an Irish great like Sonia O’Sullivan and John Treacy. ‘I’ll definitely stay in Ireland but I haven’t made set plans yet – I’ll just try to get a good Leaving Cert,’ she said.
At the Irish Cross Country Championships a fortnight ago, she showed her domestic peers a clean pair of heels, winning by a massive 18 seconds, but to come out on top in today’s race will require the best performance of her fledgling career.
‘I’m going to go out there and race it,’ she said. ‘Give myself a good chance and see what happens.’