ROB LOOKS TO THE FUTURE AT HIS FINISH LINE
ROB Heffernan crossed the line in London yesterday morning hands high as the curtain fell on his glorious career. The 39-year-old finished eighth in yesterday’s 50km walk on the same course as his heartbreaking London 2012 fourth, which was eventually upgraded to bronze. There was no fairytale ending this time, French world record holder Yohann Diniz powering to gold in 3:33.12, a remarkable eight minutes clear of silver. ‘I went through a very bad spell for about 20k,’ revealed Heffernan who found himself in an unfamiliar 21st place with 30km completed. ‘My natural instinct is to always be in with a shout of a medal. I was trying to pull the positives out of it. ‘The support from the crowd today was incredible. I think in the end I ran out of road because I came through very strong at the end.’ The father of four stopped short of announcing his retirement, however gave every indication that this was his final bow having clocked 3:44.41. ‘I think I always said, when I’m coming off the top, when I’m not challenging for medals, I know it’s still eighth in the world.’ ‘But I think it’s time for me to help the new generation now and try and put my experience back into it,’ revealed Heffernan. ‘Today to pull out another positive performance, the crowd was brilliant, the Irish support was brilliant,’ beamed the Corkman, proudly. About his immediate plans, Heffernan said: ‘I don’t know. I’ll have to sit back and evaluate.’ He finished three minutes behind Japanese silver and bronze medal pair Hirooki Arai and Kai Kobayashi. Heffernan bows out as one of Ireland’s most decorated athlete’s having won the World 50km Championship in 2013 and was twice upgraded to bronze medals. The 39-year-old holds Olympic bronze from London 2012 and European championship bronze from 2010. Alex Wright, Ireland’s final competitor at London 2017 was disqualified in the 20km walk earlier in the day after three warnings for losing contact with the ground.