The style of qualification was dramatically contrasting but that didn’t matter as both Sarah Healy and Sophie O’Sullivan won their way through the heats of the 1,500 metres at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
In the first evening session inside a packed-out National Stadium, together they also lifted the Irish mood, after the mixed-relay quartet were unable to advance from their heat in Saturday’s morning session.
Healy was always fancied to progress, her eyes at least on a place in the final, but with only the top six going through, across the four heats, there was no room for error. The 24-year-old from Dublin displayed all her experience and tactical awareness as she didn’t put a foot wrong, nailing third place in 4:02.67 in the fourth heat, just a stride off Faith Kipyegon, Kenya’s Olympic and world champion, who won from the front in 4:02.55.
Indeed Kipyegon helped ensure the pace remained steady, suiting Healy, who was never outside the top five, before moving to third at the bell. There was still plenty of running to do in the last 100m, but again Healy stepped up a gear, cruising home in third, Britain’s Laura Muir among those to miss out as she faded to eighth, in 4:05.59.
RM Block
“That was as smooth as I could hope for,” Healy said. “I’m super relieved to qualify safely, it’s always nerve-racking but I think it went pretty well ... I’ve been in the semi-final once before but for these championships my aim is to improve on last year, there’s no point in getting ahead of myself.”
In truth, O’Sullivan wasn’t fancied to progress from heat three, the 23-year-old – and daughter of 1995 world champion Sonia O’Sullivan – missing a month of running due to a stress reaction in her leg, only returning to training in the last two weeks.
O’Sullivan did, however, retain as much fitness as possible while cross-training, and that paid off as she managed to stay in contact with the leaders, before half-diving, half-falling over the line in sixth, clocking a season best of 4:02.12, and just .08 of a second ahead of the experienced Esther Guerrero from Spain, who missed out on the line.
That heat was won by Freweyni Hailu from Ethiopia, in 4:01.23, but a clearly delighted O’Sullivan will now take her place in the semi-finals in Sunday’s evening session in Tokyo (1.30pm Irish time).
After the field passed 400m in a swift 65 seconds, O’Sullivan held her place mid-pack, running right on the kerb. Holding seventh at the bell, and in that spot until the last stride, she never gave up the chase, moving out into lane three in the last 100m to give herself every chance of qualifying.
O’Sullivan was well satisfied with her effort: “I’m really happy with that, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew if I got here and feel decent then I could compete.
“I thought I’m not missing out [on a semi-final] again. I can’t do that again. I’ve been here twice and not made it and it’s just heartbreaking. I threw everything at it and luckily it worked out and I slid in there.”
It wasn’t to be, however, for Laura Nicholson in the first heat, and she ended up 13th of the 14th finishers, her 4:14.12 some seven seconds off her season best, that heat won by Australia’s Jessica Hull in 4:04.40.
Earlier, it proved something of a rude awakening for the Irish mixed-relay team as they found themselves run well out of the qualifying places on the first morning session.
The quartet of Jack Raftery, Sophie Becker, Conor Kelly and Sharlene Mawdsley ended up sixth of the nine starting teams, with only the top three assured of their place in the final later on Saturday, along with the two fastest non-qualifiers across the two heats.
Their time of 3:13.59 was also well off the Irish record of 3:09.92 set last summer, and despite strong hopes of at least making the final, they were never in contention.
Raftery got the team off to an aggressive start, holding his own approaching the first changeover, but there was a hard fight for position at the lane break, and Becker slipped into sixth, and then passed off to Kelly in eighth.
By then Kelly was already well distanced on the leaders, and although the 18-year-old also fought hard, it was too late to make any impression on the top six. Mawdsley did make up two places, as Jamaica faded dramatically on the last leg, and she also finished just ahead of the German quartet to nail sixth.
The USA took the win in 3:10.19, ahead of Great Britain and South Africa, with Italy fourth and Japan fifth. Both South Africa and Italy improved their national records, an indication of the fast-increasing standard in the event, although Ireland had beaten Italy to win European gold in the event in Rome last summer.
The second heat was won by Belgium in 3:10.37, ahead of the Netherlands and Poland, and the combined results meant Italy and Japan also qualified for the final, taking those two fastest non-qualifier spots, while Ireland ended up 11th overall of the 16 finishing teams, with Kenya disqualified for a lane infringement.
“As a collective we’re disappointed,” Raftery said. “We set such a high standard for ourselves last year, winning in Rome and running so well in Paris that we expect to be in the final every time we come out to a major championship.”
Mawdsley added: “It was very hard, I thought I was going to pass out afterwards. You can’t have an off-day at a World Championships and that’s clearly what we had. It’s our own fault; we made mistakes in the race; it’s just how it goes. We’ll learn so much from this ... We’ll be back.”
For Kelly, the European under-20 champion who has just started his college career in Texas, it was also a learning experience: “Today was not a good day but that’s how it goes. I’m happy it wasn’t a good day because next time I’ll come back and not much worse can happen!”
Both Mawdsley and Becker will now turn their attention to the individual 400m, the heats on Sunday, and will also play a role in the women’s 4x400m as they go into their qualifying heats next weekend.
Earlier, in the 35km walk, the opening event, Oisín Lane finished in 28th place, in a time of 2:41.36, the 23-year-old from Mullingar Harriers enduring tough, humid conditions. The gold medal went to Evan Dunfee from Canada in 2:28.32.
“It was very tough, with the humidity out there, and for the last 10km all I was thinking about was the finish,” he said. “I wasn’t even thinking about the places. So surprised I finished top 30 even.”
In the men’s shot put qualification, Eric Favors threw a best of 19.19m in Group A, and ended up 17th, the Raheny Shamrock athlete also well short of qualification.
Day two in Tokyo: Sunday schedule
(all times Irish)
11.30pm (Saturday) Fionnuala McCormack – Women’s Marathon
1am Nicola Tuthill – Women’s Hammer Throw – Qualification Group A
1.09am Cathal Doyle – Men’s 1,500m – Heat 2/4
1.27am Andrew Coscoran – Men’s 1,500m – Heat 4/4
3.05am Sarah Lavin – Women’s 100m Hurdles – Heat 1/6
11.33am Sharlene Mawdsley – Women’s 400m – Heat 3/6
12.05pm Sophie Becker – Women’s 400m – Heat 3/6
1.07pm Sarah Healy/Sophie O’Sullivan – Women’s 1,500m – Semi-finals
1.30pm Efrem Gidey – Men’s 10,000m – Final
