In-form Heffernan won't be overawed as he puts his best foot forward in 20k walk

ROBERT HEFFERNAN has made more sacrifices than anyone else in pursuit of athletic excellence and this evening the 24-year-old Togher man hopes to reap the rewards for all his effort when he lines up for the 20k walk final at the Olympic Stadium in Munich.

"I just can't wait," was his initial reaction when he arrived in from his training camp in Salzburg to join the other members of the Irish team at the Athletes' Village. "Up to now it was easy to be overawed when you looked around you on the start line and realised the quality of the company you are in."

But that is no longer the case and after his demolition of the Italian, Allesandro Gandellini, in Dublin's Phoenix Park last June there are a number of walkers who will be eyeing him.