PHIL Healy missed out on a place in the women’s 400m semi-finals at the Tokyo Olympics by the narrowest of margins.
The Bandon AC star finished fourth in her heat in 51.98, just one place from an automatic spot, and one away from a time qualifier position.
It was just 0.07 seconds that separated Healy from a semi-final berth, posting the second fastest outdoor time of her career in her fourth race of the championships.
However, it wasn’t to be for the Bandon athlete, who leaves the championships as an Olympic finalist, and the first Irish woman to compete in three track and field events at one Olympic Games.
After her race, Healy knew that fresh legs would have made the difference, but was content with her time and performance: ‘I went out there and gave it my all and that’s my second fastest outdoor time ever, but I know if I was fresh it would certainly have been a PB. To fall short again is disappointing, but it definitely gave me comfort today knowing what I did on top of yesterday.’
