Heffernan’s long and winding road
“Are you joking?” he gasps. “GAA versus going to the Olympics? Walking liberated me.”
The Cork athlete would never use the word ‘liberate’ to describe his parting of ways with four-time gold medallist and coach Robert Korzeniowski, who he describes as the biggest influence in his life, and yet he acknowledges the break-up has served him well.
Heffernan’s first coach was John Hayes at Togher AC but vast, new horizons were revealed to him when he tucked himself under the wing of the great Pole who became the first man to claim gold at the 20k and 50k at the one Games, in Sydney 12 years ago.
He was used to a training regime of peaks and troughs in Ireland. Day-to-day programmes. Korzeniowski introduced him to cycles and patterns designed to fully maximise preparations and potential but, by 2009, the Irish athlete felt their time together had run it’s course.
Telling his mentor... that took guts.
“Well, it did with Robert because he’s such a strong person. I can remember after [the World Athletics Championships in] Berlin he was coaching me, Paquillo Fernandez and Ilya Markov and the two boys were after winning World and Olympic medals. I was kind of thrown in there, looking back at it now, as a sparring partner.
“I can remember I was just cute about it. I just took notes and ended up beating Ilya in the World Championships and Paco only finished three or four seconds ahead of me. The Spanish guy was paying him nearly 30 grand a year whereas he was getting four grand off the Irish fella.”
At the time, he would fume at the lack of attention he was getting. In Berlin three years ago, he finished eighth but Korzeniowski’s focus was elsewhere: he had left the course as soon as Fernandez dropped out. Looking back now, Heffernan realises he was being a Jack the Lad.
“Robert is very professional and to see the Irish way…” He doesn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t have to. After Berlin, he was faced with a choice: retire or do something fresh. In the end, he kept most of the lessons imparted by his old coach and adapted them into a new structure.
Crucially, it is one where he is the centre of the universe rather than one of the minor satellites orbiting around. Liam O’Reilly is, as he says himself, his manager, physical therapist, guru and agony aunt. Ivonne Cassin, a coach originally from Mexico, executes his daily programme.
Right now, he’s in a good place. He got through the last year with a tear in his hamstring that couldn’t prevent him from posting an impressive 12th at the World Cup in Russia and the ailment has cleared up since being treated in May.
He has gone from a point six weeks ago where he believed he wasn’t going to the Olympics to one where he can describe his recent training performances as his best ever — he has been able to log 250 miles more in the last five weeks than in the same periods leading up to his two major championships.
And now he wants to improve on his eighth place in Beijing four years ago.
“Yeah. I’m there to compete, I’m not there to take part.”
This will be his fourth Olympics. His wife Marion, who is part of the women’s 4x400m relay team, will experience her first. The only cloud on the horizon came this week when it was claimed he received advice from Fernandez, who is serving a ban until December for possession of EPO.
There is no law against that but the hope is that it is the only speed bump the 20k and 50k hopeful encounters between now and shortly before 5pm on August 4 when he takes his place at The Mall’s starting point.
Who knows where the road could take him from there?
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