BY SEÁN HOLLAND
WITH the Irish women’s 4x400m relay team gearing up for their Olympic challenge that starts on Friday, the importance of Phil Healy's experience and versatility cannot be overstated.
The Ballineen Bullet will become a two-time Olympian, and there will be a ‘heavy reliance’ on all of her experience if the Irish team is to advance from Friday morning’s heats to an Olympic final.
Her sister Joan, a former international sprinter who competed at World and European levels, runs us through all the variables involved in Olympic relays. ‘You just don't know how the week is going to go, especially the athletes in their own 400 hurdles and 400 flats,’ Joan explained. ‘You might expect athletes to get to the final, but things don't always work out. So people that we might not have expected to be in the 4x400 heat might be, depending on what happens during the week or people that we would have expected to be in the 4x400 heat might make a final, so then they won't be. It's very hard to call. It's going to be a tough ask for the girls’.
Sophie Becker, Phil Healy, Rhasidat Adeleke and Sharlene Mawdsley celebrate winning silver medals at the European Athletics Championships in June.
Presuming Rhasidat Adeleke will make Friday night's 400m final, she will miss the 4x400m heats earlier that day, and her absence will make the task for the Irish team even more challenging.
‘To get out of the heat without Rhasidat will be very tough,’ Joan admitted.
‘Sharlene (Mawdsley) and Sophie (Becker) have three rounds in their legs already, so there will be a heavy reliance on Phil, because Phil is the one with the most relay experience of the team. She'll also be the one with the freshest legs because she's not there in an individual event this year, which I think is a blessing, seeing as there will be such a dependence on her in the 4x400.
‘In terms of who the fourth person coming in, I'm presuming it's going to be between Lauren Cadden and Kelly McGrory, but I'm assuming that Cadden will most likely get the nod.’
Phil's experience and fresh legs are seen as key advantages for the team. Joan considers the strategic placement of her sister within the relay sequence.
‘It probably depends on how Sharlene and Sophie recover. If their legs are feeling good, then possibly Sophie will probably be number one, with Phil being number two, and then Lauren being number three, leaving Sharlene at four, similar to what they would have done in the heats for Rome in the European Championships,’ she explained.
The big question: can this team qualify for Saturday’s Olympic final?
‘It would be an incredible achievement for the girls to make an Olympic final,’ Joan said.
‘But for the 4x400 team, who has never been at an Olympic Games before and to be doing it as well without Rhasidat, it's going to be a big ask for them. There are lots of variables. It obviously depends on who they're drawn with in their heat, and it also depends on how well Sharlene and Sophie recover from their mixed relay and their own individual events.’
