LAST UPDATE | 15 Aug 2022
PHIL HEALY HAS made a disappointing early exit from the 400m at the European Championships in Munich.
The Cork star finished sixth in her heat in a time of 53.10. (Her PB is 51.50.)
Running from Lane 3, the race did not go to plan for Healy as she faded down the home straight, and looked to be struggling.
“It’s just not good enough,” she told RTÉ afterwards. “I came here, targeted this championship and 53.10 is my worst performance this year. It’s very disappointing, I don’t know what went wrong today.
“That last 80m, I dunno if it was a shock to the system that I haven’t raced in so long… 53.10 is just not good enough. I’m not in that shape, but that’s the time beside my name now.”
Laviai Nielsen of Great Britain won Healy’s heat out in 51.60, Netherland’s Eveline Saalberg was second in 51.81 and Switzerland’s Silke Lemmens finished third after clocking 52.27.
They all qualified, with the three next fastest overall set to join them.
Not to be for Sharlene Mawdsley (52.63) and Phil Healy (53.10) in the heats of the 400m🇮🇪
— Athletics Ireland (@irishathletics) August 15, 2022
Both athletes will be back later in the week for the 4x400m relay💪
Results: https://t.co/bNp2s7gWgg#Munich2022 #BackToTheRoofs pic.twitter.com/1bVK1IadmR
Shortly after, Sharlene Mawdsley also finished sixth in her heat in a time of 52.63.
Running from Lane 6, Mawdsley produced a gutsy run but it wasn’t enough.
“Naturally I’m disappointed, I came here for a lot more,” she told RTÉ, having been a late call-up after Sophie Becker pulled out of the 400m at the weekend. “I’m a better athlete than 52.6.”
Cátia Azevedo of Portugal triumphed that one in 51.63, Gunta Aicule of Latvia was second in 52.26 and Alica Schmidt of Germany was third in 52.52.
Poland’s Iga Baumgart-Witan won the other heat in 51.09
Rhasidat Adeleke automatically advances to Tuesday’s semi-finals thanks to her top-12 ranking coming into this week.
There was positive news for Andrew Coscoran as he finished seventh in the second of the 1500m semi-finals. Coscoran will return for Thursday’s final after his time of 3:38.74.
Great to see Balbriggan’s Andrew Coscoran make the 1500m final #munich22 pic.twitter.com/2x0qrxrzBI
— David Coughlan (@davidcoughlan_) August 15, 2022
Luke McCann failed to advance to the final after finishing 10th in his heat with a time of 3:40.98.
Healy and Mawdsley will return later in the week for the 4x400m relay.
