Hession dreaming of final spot

It was last autumn, not long after he failed to make it through the 200m heats in the World Championships in Daegu, that Paul Hession, see picture below, realised something had to change.

Four years had passed since he posted his official Irish record time of 20.30 seconds for the 200m, three since a wind-assisted 20.26 in Thessaloniki. He was standing still. The rest of the field was disappearing down the track.

Seven of the runners currently ranked in the top 10 for the distance posted PBs between May and October last year. All bar two did so with times superior to the one he achieved in Greece.

Hession had been used to the heartbreak of missing out on global finals in Osaka, Beijing and Berlin by the narrowest of margins so Daegu’s backward step was proof that he needed a new direction before the 2012 Games.

He sat down with his coach of six years, Stuart Hogg, vacated his digs in Glenrothes, Scotland and moved back to Dublin to link up with coach John Coghlan.

“I came to the conclusion that, the way things were going, I wasn’t going to run any quicker in London than I had previously and I could very easily have sat on my laurels and accepted another semi-final in another Worlds or Olympic Games.

“I wanted more. I came to the conclusion that I needed freshening up. I needed a change. I just think I got a bit stale. The way things were going I was going to run another 20.40, 20.50 and make another semi. That’s not what I want.”

His is an unenviable task over a distance that is coughing up some eye-opening times in recent years: so much so that the inevitable murmurs are being heard about whether or not all is as it would appear or should be.

The new world order is being ruled from Jamaica. Six of the top 100m runners, and seven of the first ten over 200m, hail from the Caribbean island.

In the vanguard is Usain Bolt whom Hession has ran against at least a dozen times and the man from Athenry has nothing but praise for the champion whose “pizzazz” has transcended athletics and given global athletics such a lift.

Yet, Bolt’s performances, while unique, demonstrate the extent of the challenge facing the Irishman.

“Has the event moved on? It has moved on significantly but, at the same time, it didn’t take much to make last year’s final [in Daegu] so on the day, despite some fancy times, you could still make a World or Olympic final with 20.30.”

Hession’s long been a lonely furrow in that he has been a white guy trying to crack a code where Caucasians have been few and far between but Christophe Lemaitre won bronze in Korea last year.

“Once one person does it, it is not a big deal anymore,” he said.

Hession cracked the A standard qualifying time last summer and that takes some of the pressure off. For now. He’ll run in the Europeans in Helsinki in late June/early July but London three weeks later stands as the be all and end all.

“If I am in the top 12, in the mix on the day, I can try and make that final. If I can repeat or better what I did in Beijing I can make the final. It is all on the day.’’