‘Head honcho’ Heffernan shows Irish athletes can walk the walk

Athletics Ireland chairman of High Performance Ray Flynn described Robert Heffernan’s victory in the 50km race walk as the “best day of my athletics life” and that the main message of the Corkman’s performance was to “the athletes themselves.”

Flynn, who has been involved with Heffernan for the past 20 years, believes Heffernan’s gold medal should show other Irish athletes that they can compete on the international stage.

“I’ve noticed in the last few years that Irish athletes don’t believe they can compete internationally for various reasons,” said Flynn. “You’d hear them say they can’t compete because of the Kenyans or whatever.