‘Sporting Couple’ set gold standard in teamwork

Utterly dedicated to one another and to the pursuit of each other’s athletic goals, Rob and Marian Heffernan have long been described as “Team Heffernan”.

Anybody who knows them talks of the pride they take in each other’s achievements and how they urge and drive the other on, each the other’s staunchest ally. On their joint website, they describe themselves as “The Sporting Couple”.

He, the racewalker who finished fourth in the Olympics and now the fêted gold-medal winner of the 50km walk in Moscow; she, a national 400m champion and part of the Irish 4x400m relay team who broke the Irish record in Daegun and ran a season’s best time of 3:30:55 at the London Games.