Ireland’s Rob Heffernan has won gold in the 50-km Walk at the World Championships in Moscow.
Heffernan pulled clear of second placed Mikhail Ryzhov shortly after the 40-kilometre mark and never looked in danger of relinquishing the lead in the closing stages.
He finished over a minute clear of the nearest challenger and his winning time of 3hr 37.56secs was the fastest of the year.
“Its surreal, it’s just a great feeling,” he said. “When I came into the stadium it just felt like an out of body experience. It’s hard to take it all in at the moment. I’m delighted.”
He added, “My mam would have been so proud of me today. She’ll have been looking down and it gave me strength to think of her. Marian is great she took a step back from her career, it’s a team effort I am very grateful to her. Physically and mentally, I’ve never been better. Age is only a number. This will mean a lot to everyone back home. The country will be sunk tonight. When I was going round I thought ‘the country needs a lift’. It’s not just me making sacrifices. Marian is such a help with everything, and Emma Gallivan (Athletics Ireland physio) has been great, no injuries this year. Everything seemed to align for me today. It’s massive exposure for the sport at home. When kids see this, they’ll want to walk.”
Congratulations to Rob and his wife Marian on this great achievement.
Brendan Boyce from Milford, Donegal, was placed an excellent 25th in a new personal best of 3:54:24; he’s coached by his mentor Rob Heffernan!
http://www.rte.ie/sport/player/734/468072/ interview with RTE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj4-TeragCg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH1UuXRuWIY interview on IAAF TV
Eamonn Coghlan also won 5,000m gold for Ireland in Helsinki in 1983, before Sonia O’Sullivan won the 5,000m in Gothenburg 18 years ago.
Ireland’s last two medals at the World Championships – Olive Loughnane in 2009 and Gillian O’Sullivan in 2003 – have come in race-walking.
