PHIL HEALY PROMISED to make the most of her second chance after hanging on for a place in the semi-finals of the women’s 400m at the European Indoor Championships.
Ireland’s fastest woman started strongly and led through the half-way mark of her heat in Glasgow this morning, but she was reeled in by Raphaela Lukudo of Italy and Deborah Sananes of France and edged out into third in the final strides.
With only the first two in each heat guaranteed automatic qualification, Healy then faced an anxious wait to see if her time of 53.13 would be good enough to see her through as one of the four next-best times, which it ultimately was.
“I didn’t even feel them coming towards me until the very, very end,” Healy said while she waited for the final placings to be confirmed.
“I just didn’t have it in the legs for that little bit, maybe because I went out too hard, but that’s part and parcel of indoor running.
“If I’m in the semi-final later, that’s another shot and off I go.”
The 400m semi-finals begin at 8.36pm this evening.
There was disappointment for Healy’s Ireland team-mate Sophie Becker, who finished fifth in her heat in a time of 53.99.
In the men’s 3000m, Seán Tobin produced a season’s best time of 7:56.27 but narrowly missed out on a place as one of the four fastest losers, while John Travers (8:12.54) also failed to qualify for Saturday evening’s final.
Siofra Cléirigh Büttner finished fourth in her women’s 800m heat in a time of 2:06.00, which was not enough for a place in the semi-finals.
Bernard Jackman joins Murray Kinsella and Gavan Casey to discuss the backlash to World Rugby’s league proposal, captaincy styles, sports psychology and more in The42 Rugby Weekly.
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