Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Irish great Heffernan set to quit
ROB HEFFERNAN came eighth in the 50km walk at the World Championships yesterday - possibly his final appearance for
Ireland.
Heffernan stopped short of officially announcing his retirement having gone to London aiming to land a second World medal.
The 39-year-old found himself in an unfamiliar 21st place with 30km completed, working his way through the field to finish three minutes off a medal.
“I know it’s still eighth in the world,” explained Heffernan.
“But I think it’s time for me to help the new generation now and put my experience back into it.
“I’ve done enough in the sport. I was coming here today to thank everybody because I think my career has been so long.
“I’ve got such great support from everyone in Ireland and it’s given me such a buzz, that’s what got me through the race.
“The body has lost that desire to be massively competitive. I got it at the end but you need it for the whole race.”
Father-of-four Heffernan leaves the stage as one of Ireland’s greatest athlete’s having won World Championship gold in 2013 and being upgraded to Olympic bronze from London 2012.
“Today to pull out another positive performance was great,” grinned Heffernan who last year became the first Irish athlete to compete in five Olympic Games.
“The crowd was brilliant, the Irish support was brilliant, I don’t know but I’ll have to sit back and evaluate it.
“What I’m proud of is that I peaked again for today. It’s not racing today that’s the problem, it’s the 11 months of commitment beforehand. I’ve missed going to matches and races with my kids.”