Phil Healy: We need to fund professional coaches to improve Irish athletics

In Tokyo, Healy became the first Irishwoman to compete in three events on the track at a single Olympics

Irish Olympian Phil Healy with a copy of "Girls Play Too 2: More Inspiring Stories of Irish Sportswomen" which is exclusively available in Lidl stores nationwide for €12.99 until September 5th. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

It’s the sure-fire follow-up to every Olympic Games: a post-mortem on the state of Irish athletics, and a question of why Irish athletes are, generally, unable to keep pace with the world’s fastest.

For Phil Healy the answer is very simple. “I think people forget the amount of nations that compete in athletics in comparison to other sports,” she says.