The older sister of Ireland’s European 4x400m silver medalist Phil Healy has hailed the team for their performance in last night’s race in Rome, saying that it “hasn’t been an overnight success”.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Joan Healy also said it was “far easier” being the athlete for such races, as being a spectator left her “on nerves all day”.
The relay team of Healy, Sophie Becker, Rhasidat Adeleke, and Sharlene Mawdsley secured a silver medal at the European Championships last night, in a new Irish record time of 3:22:71.
“I was at the edge of my seat,” Joan Healy said.
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“I had a sick feeling in my stomach, because we knew what was possible and I know how hard these girls have worked. This hasn’t been an overnight success for this moment.”
“It hasn’t been an overnight success, these girls have worked so hard for so many years,” she said, adding that: “We all knew they had a chance last night and it was just a brilliant sight to see.”
“Either of us, and especially Phil, wouldn’t be here without them”
Joan Healy said her parents were in Rome to watch Phil run.
“I spoke to my mum after the race and she was just hysterical,” she laughed.
“But it was an amazing thing for them to see because, you know, they’ve been with us since we started athletics when we were 10 and 11 and they’ve been travelling to championships with us all these years, and to finally see the girls and for Phil to finally get a medal at this stage in her career was just so amazing.”
“We are a family of runners,” she said, adding that their parents have supported us every step of the way – travelling up and down to Dublin and abroad.”
“Either of us, and especially Phil, wouldn’t be here without them.”
Youth runners want ‘to be like Sophie Becker’
Three-time Olympian Dick Hooper of Raheny Shamrock Athletic Club, where Sophie Becker is a member, said Sophie is lucky to have come along at a time when “standards are so good”.
“Irish athletics is on an up. She’s become part of a quartet there that’s on a mission,” he said.
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“They’ve been knocking on the door for quite a few years now… their time came last night to deliver that medal. It puts them up there on the pantheon of Irish sporting heroes.
“It’s been such a great week for Irish athletics. These girls are household names now, it’s wonderful.
Mr Hooper said his club in Raheny has a “fantastic” youth section and all they want to do now is run relays “and be like Sophie Becker”.
That is something that would have been “unheralded” a few years ago, he added.
“The girls summed it up last night – relay running now is the thing to do, everyone wants to try it.”
