PHIL Healy ran her second sub-52 second 400m of the year when she finished second at the first World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting of 2022, in Karlsruhe, last Friday evening.
The Ballineen woman followed up her 51.96 at a national league indoor meet at the start of January with an impressive 51.97 at the meet in Germany as her indoor season picks up pace.
Polish athlete Anna Kiełbasińska took the race win in a world lead time of 51.92, but Healy was on her shoulder right to the finish line and was only five hundredths of a second behind. The top two were well clear of Czech runner Lada Vondrova (52.53) and Germany’s Alicia Schmidt (53.58) who both ran personal bests.
To appreciate Healy (27) running two sub 52-second 400m back to back, it’s worth noting that her indoor 400m PB is 51.94 set at the European Indoor Championships in Poland in March 2021.
This will be another big year for the Beijing Olympian as she has the World Indoors in Belgrade next month, and then both the European and World outdoor
