World Athletics Championships: Healy 10th in 1500m final, McPhillps and English reach 800m semis

Sharlene Mawdsley was in action in the 400m semi-finals, the Newport sprinter finishing eighth in 51.22, leaving her 20th overall.

TOP TEN: Sarah Healy running in the women's 1500m final at the World Athletics Championships. Pic: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

Such is the ambition that runs bone-deep in Sarah Healy, there was no way she could be fully content with this. Tenth in the world 1500m final is, at 24, an excellent achievement, but at the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo on Tuesday night, the Dubliner couldn’t shake a slight sense of frustration.

“It was the perfect race for me,” she said, referring to the strong pace that played to her strengths, with 800m reached in a swift 2:07. “It was exactly what I’d have wanted. I raced those on the Diamond League circuit and finished really strong but today, I was dying a bit. I know it sounds like I’m being hard on myself, but it’s the truth.” Having snuck into the final following a disqualification in her semi-final, Healy knew she’d been gifted a golden opportunity. She wanted to seize it.