Heffernan started the race strongly and was in the leading pack for much of the race. However, after the halfway stage, Jefferson Perez of Ecuador injected a burst of pace and Heffernan was dropped from the leading pack.Russia’s Valeriy Borchin won the Olympic gold medal in a time of 1 hour 19:01 seconds.
Still only 29, Rob was the highest placed Irish athlete at last years World Championships in Osaka, Japan, and achieved Olympic qualification at a Grand Prix meeting in Shenzhen, China.
