Any split-second moment of doubt can turn the course of the tactical distance race, and by her own crushing admission cost Sarah Healy a European Championship medal in the 5,000m. No excuse, just lingering regret and understandable heartbreak.
Fourth will always be the loneliest place in any championship. Only having got herself into a medal position with one lap to run, the bell clanging in her ear, Healy’s costly moment of doubt came midway down the backstretch. When the Italian Nadia Battocletti made her final lung-busting surge for gold, Healy was briefly boxed in on the inside. By the time five runners stole ahead around the final bend, Healy’s medal chance was slipping away. Fast.
Still she chased, storming past Dutch medal hope Maureen Koster and Britain’s Hannah Nuttall before running out of track. Marta García of Spain, who crucially covered Battocletti’s decisive move, held on for silver, her compatriot Micol Majori winning an unexpected bronze.
Healy was .30 of a second away from bronze, her time of 15:40.95 almost 50 seconds off her best. But this was an entirely tactical race which, in truth, should have fallen right into the hands of the Dubliner.
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“Fourth is a really hard place to come,” said Healy, her bloodied lower legs from the repeated spiking of other athletes evidence of just how tactical things were. “It’s really disappointing to be so close to a medal, and in a race like that. I felt like I had a good chance of winning a medal. I did give it my best, but I do have a bit of regret.
“I think on the last lap I just had a bit of a moment, sort of doubt. Then I was playing catch up in the last 150. I was coming, but I had too much work to do. It’s easy to say that when you’re off the track, but I just feel maybe it (a medal) was there.”
It certainly was, Healy doing everything right until the final 250m, where in that moment of doubt she dug a hole for herself that she couldn’t climb out of in time. Battocletti proved yet again why she’s among the very best in the world, on course to repeat her 5,000m-10,000m double. Healy’s inexperience over the 12-and-a-half laps – this being the 25-year-old’s second competitive 5,000m outing – also cost her in the end.
“Honestly, it went by so fast, it was literally like ‘stay on your feet, stay on your feet’. And I was trying to stay calm and be like, ‘you’ve loads time’. I find it hard in the 5K, it’s just like two laps to go is like the kick almost. Whereas I’m sort of in my head that feels really long, a long way out. And so I’m really doubting, ‘can I make it?’
“And I feel like that’s really what cost me over that last lap. I’m not saying it I would have ran like way faster or been winning. But I think that inexperience cost me maybe a little bit as well.
“I don’t think I could have gone with her (Battocletti), she’s obviously like a class above. If I’d gone in third, I think I would have held on. It’s just so hard to even think about, because the difference between bronze and fourth is huge. What can you do?
“I did everything right, honestly, until the last lap. I think the girls who came second and third, they kind of came from behind, maybe they saved a bit of energy. I’d have to watch it back, but I probably won’t be able to watch it back.”
From the gun, the race fell into Healy’s hands. The field promptly bunched, crawling the first lap in 80 seconds. They continued to run at a pedestrian 6:38.03 at 2k, effectively turning into a 3km race – perfect for Healy, the European Indoor champion over that distance from last year.
She will be back on the track with a shot at redemption in the heats of the 1,500m, her specialist event, on Saturday. “I’m very happy to have another go at it. I knew it was a gamble doing this (the 5,000m). It’s not ideal preparation, but I don’t think it’s going to have taken a lot out of my legs, so you just have to reset and get going for that.”
Having blazed his way into the semi-finals of the 100m, Bori Akinola gave himself a shot at making the final when finishing fourth, clocking 10.38 seconds. The top-two in each race, plus the two fastest finishers thereafter progressed, but Akinola’s time was surpassed in the second semi-final, ending up 16th overall.
“I was hoping to run quicker, looking for a better time but the wind conditions weren’t in my favour,” said Akinola. “There’s a lot more confidence there going into the next major championships, so for a debut, it’s not the worst. Obviously I was coming to make the final. I still have another shot in the relay, so I’ll put all my energy into that.”
Isreal Olatunde, who made the European final four years ago, got a bye straight into the 100m semi-finals, where he finished seventh in 10.49. Afterwards, he said a quad muscle injury sustained in May had threatened his entire season. The final was won by Britain’s Romell Glave in 10.09, just ahead of team-mate Jeremiah Azu.
Jack Raftery also gave his all in the semi-finals of the 400m, the Dubliner storming around the first 300m before fading in the homestretch to finish seventh in 45.81.
While the evening’s attendance was again disappointing, the Irish voices were frantically clear, willing Healy and Raftery to find something extra down the homestretch, but it wasn’t to be. The wait for a first Irish medal continues.
Wednesday – Irish in action
11.05am: Women’s 400m heats (Sophie Becker)
11.40am: Women’s 200m heats (Lauren Roy)
12.20pm: Men’s 800m semi-finals (Mark English)
7.45pm: Women’s hammer throw final (Nicola Tuthill)
8.20pm: Women’s 200m semi-finals (Rhasidat Adeleke, Lauren Roy*)
*pending qualification
