Athletics: Phil Healy making vital strides

The success or failure of the Irish team at the World Indoor Championships was always going to be decided by one athlete, and given Phil Healy managed something no Irish athlete had done since 2010, it felt a lot like the former at the close of play in Birmingham last night.

The 23-year-old Bandon sprinter was the first to advance from an opening round at world indoors since David Gillick and Claire Brady eight years ago in Doha, and to do so she had to take on and tussle with two of the world’s best.

Drawn on the outside in her 400m heat, Healy took off like a scared rabbit to get to the lead at the end of the first lap, when runners break lanes and those out front have a decisive edge on the tight turns. It meant she passed the bell in 24.03 seconds, a half a second faster than ever before, but Healy was aware that to win big, she had to gamble.