A lifetime of effort for golden stroll

Rob’s gold medal-winning performance in Moscow yesterday was the end result of a long process, one that started as far back as the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

Rob has put in a huge effort over that period. People watching the race on television were impressed and rightly so. However, it’s difficult for people who aren’t familiar with athletics to realise how long it takes to make the podium at an international championships.

Let’s face it, athletics is a sport that the general public tend to dip in and out of. In fairness, it’s difficult for people to appreciate that finishing 13th in a major Championship isn’t all that different from finishing 33rd. I believe it’s that drive to fight for every place and to get every last drop out of yourself that separates those who achieve and those who are happy just to be there.

Rob finished 28th at the Olympics in Sydney and he would have had a plan in place since then. His ultimate goal was always to win a medal. It took a lot of steps to get there.

Rob placed 14th in 2001 at the World Championships. 14th mightn’t have caught the imagination of the public, but it was part of a plan as far as he was concerned. That is sometimes why you need to invest over a period of time, instead of expecting fast results. There were setbacks along the way.

I am sure there were times when Rob was frustrated to have come so close to getting a medal, especially at last year’s Olympics. You have to take into consideration however, that those fourth place finishes were progress in themselves. While nobody wants to finish fourth at a major championships, to finish fourth twice in the European Championships in Barcelona in 2010 (20k and 50k) was an improvement on anything he had previously achieved. Rob’s fourth place two years later at the Olympics was another step-up. It had to have been hugely frustrating, but it was progress.

If I look at my own personal situation, I always wanted to medal. I finished seventh in Beijing in 2008 with a very quick time. I gained confidence from that and it was a springboard for 2009 when I secured silver at the World Championship in Berlin.

There is a difference between wanting to medal and believing you can and will medal. Following his performance in London 2012, Rob couldn’t but have viewed himself as a genuine medal contender, you see yourself as that, you expect it. My attitude going into Berlin in 2009 was ‘I’m going to medal today’.

I expect Rob had a similar attitude yesterday. Rob looked very much in control of the race. He never allowed a significant gap to develop. When he decided to make a move, it was decisive and he never looked back after that. There were moments during the race when the Russian opened up a slight lead and Rob would have said to himself there and then, ‘no, not today’. That was his mind-set.

We have secured six medals at World Championships and three of them have been in race-walking. Back in 2000, Rob, Gillian O’Sullivan and I would all have qualified for the Olympics at the same time. For us, it wasn’t about making the Olympics, and while that is a special achievement in itself and it was wonderful to be there, we always wanted more. There was a group mentality really.

Also, Rob more so than anyone of us would have gone to the ends of the earth in search of expertise and help. In 2002, Rob sent an email to Robert Korzeniowski, at the time a double Olympic champion. Rob was looking for help and Robert responded to the email and that started a relationship. He was the best in the world at the time and Rob Heffernan benefited from him. Rob changed coaches in 2009. Sometimes, people get comfortable with their situation and are happy to keep the status quo, instead of moving on and making the changes that need to be made. As a group, we were always open to change, Rob in particular. Rob would have questioned himself as to why he wasn’t winning. He would always have looked at ways to improve.

We were all strong at different points, Gillian was strong in 2002-2004 and then Rob and I would have emerged around 2007/2008. Gillian and I won silver, but Rob would have always wanted to do better. Us girls had silver so he had no choice but to go for gold!

We were very happy to be usurped.

* Olive Loughnane won a silver medal in the 20km walk at the 2009 World Championships.