Healy narrowly misses out on European medal
Bandon ace buoyed by personal best as she scorches into fourth
PHIL HEALY’S bold bid for a medal in the European Indoor 400m final in Torun Poland came up agonisingly short last night, the Bandon AC sprinter finishing fourth in 51.94 seconds, a lifetime best.
‘I said I’d go out fighting and I’d die fighting in the process and that’s what I did,’ said Healy.
The 26-year-old threw herself into contention on the first lap but just didn’t have enough up the home straight to hoist herself into the medal positions. In a field filled with quality, Dutch star Femke Bol claimed victory in 50.63, with Justyna Swiety-Ersetic of Poland taking silver in 51.41 and Jodie Williams of Britain third in 51.73.
‘I got so close to the medals,’ said Healy. ‘I was just 0.2 out but I came away with a personal best and to do that in there with a world-class field, I’m delighted. I know people would be disappointed with fourth but this was my first major final.’
It has nonetheless been an outstanding start to the season for Healy, who opened her year with a 400m personal best of 51.99 in Abbotstown two weeks ago before powering to victory in both her heat and semi-final in Torun.
Earlier in the night Cian McPhillips, Mark English and Nadia Power all bowed out after being unable to finish in the top-two in their 800m semi-finals. McPhillips finished third in his semi-final in 1:48.06, with Britain’s Jamie Webb (1:45.99) and Sweden’s Andreas Kramer (1:46.87) proving too strong for the 18-year-old Irishman.
‘The experience has been phenomenal overall,’ said McPhillips. ‘To see these guys on telly, you look at them and wonder how they do it, but when you’re in beside them and talking to them, it humanises them and you learn you can compete against these guys. It’s a great chance to develop. At the start of the year I never would have thought I’d have an indoor season, never mind make it to a European Championships.’
English finished fourth in his semifinal in 1:48.99, a race won by former world champion Pierre AmbroiseBosse of France in 1:47.86 ahead of Adam Kszczot (1:47.98). He had used stalking tactics through the first half but was unable to summon the speed on the last lap to take a top-two position.
‘I would have liked to finish higher up but sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t,’ said English. ‘Hanging back worked for me at the Europeans in 2014 against Bosse but it just wasn’t there today.’
Power finished fourth in her 800m semi-final in 2:04.04, with only the top two going through. ‘The plan was to go for it a little early and I knew it’d be risky but my strength is not kicking in the last 150, it’s making everyone hurt in the middle of the race,’ she said.
‘It didn’t work today but I went for it, I learned, and I’ll have to come back and be better next time. Everything I’ve done this season has given me more hunger, and this season really, really convinced me I can be one of the best in the world. I know that’s crazy to say when I haven’t made a European final but I’ve made massive gains this year.’
Sarah Lavin turned in a career-best performance in the heats of the women’s 60m hurdles, the Limerick athlete clocking a huge personal best of 8.06 to finish third and advance to today’s semi-finals. Sean Tobin produced a brilliant run to advance to the men’s 3000m final, clocking a personal best of 7:47.30. There was no joy for the Irish trio in the men’s 60m, with Leon Reid, Israel Olatunde and Dean Adams all eliminated in the heats yesterday morning after clocking 6.75, 6.79 and 6.89 respectively.