In-form Heffernan won't be overawed as he puts his best foot forward in 20k walk
"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.
Six weeks earlier Heffernan had set a new national record at 1:20.25 in Naumburg where he finished a mere seven seconds behind the Spaniard Juan Manuel Molina. Both Molina and Gandellini, who was fifth in the Olympics, will be among the favourites this evening Molina on his seasonal best in Naumburg and Gandellini on his sheer tenacity and class but where does that place Heffernan? one might ask
"At the moment I am ranked eighth in the world and seventh in Europe but who knows what might happen on the day. Look what happened at the world championships. We did not expect the Russians to finish one-two-three," he said. "I honestly don't know what I am capable of right now but everything has gone very well for me. My training has been superb and I feel I am mentally fresher than I have ever been going into a major championships. I have learned a lot from past experience."
His first major assignment was at the Sydney Olympics as a 20 year old and he built on that to finish 14th at the world championships in Edmonton last year.
If ever an athlete stretched his Sports Grant to the limits it has to be him. He has travelled on a shoestring to train in South Africa and Poland in recent years and, this year, he went and set up his own training camp outside Salzburg where he was given the use of all the facilities he required. He travelled out twice and went there after another record breaking performance over 10k at the national championships to put the finishing touches to his preparations for the European championships.
"Training could not have gone better," he said. "The weather was roasting and conditioned me for the weather here. To be honest I am really excited. While I might have felt a little bit scared in the past I am really looking forward to this race."
With the gold and silver medallists from the world championships absent, the big contenders for the medals should be the bronze medallist in Edmonton, Viktor Burayev and he is behind Heffernan on the seasonal rankings, the two Spaniards, Francisco Fernandez, who heads the world rankings this year with a best of 1:19.02, and Molino, and two other Russians Andrey Stadnichuk and Vladimir Andreyev.
l At his best, James Nolan would be oozing confidence going into the first semi-final of the men's 1,500m this evening.
He drew the opening heat in which he renews rivalry with Frenchman Mehdi Baala and Jose Antonio Redolat from Spain. The last time they met was the final of the European indoor championships in Ghent, where the Offaly man separated them to take the silver medal in a rough and tumble race.
While the other two have advanced, Baala was fourth in the Sydney Olympics, Nolan has struggled and, after a frustrating period of injury he cannot be in the right frame of mind as he goes into this evening's race.
With the first four from each of two heats to qualify along with the four fastest losers he could still get a place in the final and that could boost his confidence no end.
Three of Ireland's crop of 400m runners will be in action this morning and of those, national record holder, Paul McKee, would appear to have the best opportunity of going through to the next round. He is drawn in lane four for the second heat which features Ingo Schultz of Germany in lane two and, with a seasonal best of 44.97 he will be amongst the favourites for the gold medal along with Daniel Caines of great Britain who goes in the fourth heat.
Dave McCarthy drew lane five in the first heat while Dubliner Robert Daly has lane two in the third heat.
Australian-born Adrienne McIvor, a late addition to the team, goes in the first round heats of the women's 800m.
There was good news for Mark Carroll yesterday when it was announced that there will no heats in the men's 5,000m as there are only 24 entries and a likely final declaration in the region of 18. With a straight final on Sunday he delayed his arrival from his training base in Salzburg until today.
Irish Athletes in Action today (Irish Time)
8.30 a.m.: Men's 400m Heats: Paul McKee, Dave McCarthy, Rob Daly.
4.35 p.m.: Men's 20k Walk Final: Robert Heffernan.
4.55 p.m.: Men's 1,500m semi-finals: James Nolan.
7.05 p.m.: Women's 800m heats: Adrienne McIvor.
8.10 p.m.: Women's 10,000m Final: Sonia O'Sullivan, Marie Davenport, Anne Keenan-Buckley.
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