Phil Healy: 'I'm enjoying the sport and running fast again'

At this weekend’s nationals, Phil Healy will race the 200m, trying to earn world ranking points to boost her chances of Olympic qualification.

Phil Healy of Bandon AC competing in the senior women's 400m heats during day one of the 123.ie National Senior Indoor Championships.

The stopwatch never lies, but for a long time Phil Healy couldn’t stand the truth it would deliver. Athletics has been the centre of her world for the past decade, so when things went awry in 2022, the decline was all too visible, too measurable, in those harsh, objective digits.

In training, 500-metre reps were Healy’s staple and she typically covered them in 1:18-1:20. But after a while, she’d have to bury herself just to hit 1:27. The same thing happened in the gym, the numbers not lying, Healy’s strength and power declining.