IRISH ATHLETES CIARA Mageean and Sarah Healy have failed to qualify for the semi-finals in Tokyo after finishing 10th and 14th in their respective heats of the women’s 1,500 metres.
Mageen ran in the opening heat. The World Championships finalist started in a prominent position establishing herself from the off.
However, having managed the race tactically, when a lead group of 11 broke for home Mageean’s finishing speed failed to materialise. Throughout the final lap, she appeared to be running on empty and eventually crossed the line in a time of 4:07.29.
A top-six spot was required for automatic qualification. There are also six-time qualifiers across the three heats. The first heat was won by Candian Gabriela DeBues-Stafford as she clocked 4:03.70.
It is a disheartening result for Mageean who finished 11th in the 1,500m semi-final at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Sarah Healy ran in the final heat. The race unfolded at a considerably quicker pace than the opening two and proved too much for the 20-year old. She crossed the line with a time of 4:09.78.
“This is definitely my poorest race of the season. It is disappointing. I think I need to learn to perform when it matters most, which was today,” said Healy post-race in an interview with RTE.
“It is definitely motivating. It was a great year for me to start enjoying running again. Realise that I still want to keep doing it and I enjoy it. Also, I didn’t get here by myself. There is a huge team of people at home that helped me. I want to say thanks to them and sorry I didn’t deliver today.”
There is more Irish action on the track later today as Phil Healy participates in the women’s 200m heat 6 at 3.10am.
