SARAH Healy is not remotely prone to hubris or hyperbole so when she describes winning 3000m gold at this year’s European Indoor Championships as a ‘milestone’ it is clear just how pivotal a moment it was.
The double European youth champion (2018) and European Junior and U23 silver medallist continued to lower her PBs and set new Irish records since moving to train with the star-studded M11 group in Manchester two years ago yet kept struggling to replicate that form in major championships.
Last year she knocked seven seconds off the 25-year-old Irish indoor 3000m record and, a month before her second Olympic appearance, ran a brilliant 1500m PB of 3:57.46, second only to Ciara Mageean’s 3:55.87 Irish record.
Yet when it came to the big dances there were multiple disappointments, including seventh in her 1500m heat in Paris and fourth in the repechage, missing the semi-finals by one spot.
The elegant Monkstown runner is still only 24 yet the bar set by so much underage success was lofty. Her recurring problem in majors, she had admitted, was psychological.
So becoming Ireland’s first female European Indoor champion in Apeldoorn (Netherlands) in March surely exorcised all those dog days?
“It was the first senior medal of my career so that’s a milestone in itself and to win a title, that is a moment for sure,” she reflects.
“I did nothing drastic or differently in terms of training. I think I just learned from the disappointments and ups and downs of the last year or two and I definitely learned a lot from Paris. I had never actually been at a European Indoors before so it was a good stepping stone for me.”
Some sage advice from Jenny Meadows, one of her two coaches, also helped stick to, and genuinely trust, her process.
“Before I raced Jenny just said ‘you’ve raced seven times this year and seven times you’ve raced really well’ and that really calmed me down.”
She had set three new Irish records at 1500m/3000m in February but did the fact that her British training partners Keely Hodgkinson and Georgia Hunter Bell won Olympic gold (800m) and bronze (1500m) in Paris help change her mindset and self-belief?
“I think it has,” Healy says. “Obviously I’m so lucky to have such great training partners, you’re learning from the best and we’re also good friends.
“It sets the bar really high in training and particularly because myself and Georgia are in the same event. I saw, physically that I’m not far off where I need to be.
“They’re both incredibly physically talented but what they achieved in Parish highlighted to me how important the mental side is, how much their mindset allowed them to win those medals. I was like, mentally, I need to make a few changes here.
“There’s been times where I really haven’t been enjoying it and wondered whether I’d ever be able to have my moment but, deep down, I never actually considered walking away from it,” she stresses.
“I believe that I have talent and just really want to fulfil my potential.
“My old coach Eoghan (Marnell) really instilled in me to have pride and enjoyment in the pursuit of excellence. That was what he was all about.
“I’ve learned so much from all my failures but I think it’s success that fuels you and I don’t just mean the Europeans but any good race or even in training sometimes,” she explains.
“Pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and achieving something, that is just the best feeling!
“A lot of the time it’s really tough and you’re pushing through the pain but, when you get through it, you have moments where you just feel strong and feel ‘yeah, this is what I’m meant to be doing!” Healy says ahead of her outdoor season which she’ll open with a 3000m at the Diamond League in Rabat (Morocco) on May 25.