Irish quartet go close but fall just short in search of final involvement

Healy and O’Sullivan both finished seventh in their heats, falling one spot shy of qualification, while Mawdsley was third in her 400m repechage in 51.18 and Becker second in 51.28.

Context matters in framing such results, and in the 1500m the seventh place for O’Sullivan felt like a bit of a triumph, though for Healy it felt like disaster. 

That’s because O’Sullivan smashed her lifetime best, clocking 4:00.23 to finish a close seventh. She could do no more.

For Healy, her 4:02.91 is a time she could run at her leisure. But it wasn’t the clock that left her troubled – it was how she felt.

Healy had run the perfect race up until the final 100 metres, always positioning herself towards the front, saving energy and running smartly, but in the home straight she was unable to match the surge of the leaders and the tank quickly ran dry, her legs beginning to buckle near the line as she was passed by New Zealand’s Maia Ramsden, who edged her to the last semi-final spot by just 0.08.

“I’m really disappointed,” she said. “I didn’t feel very good and then I tied up at the end which has now happened to me twice so I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ It’s really hard. I came into this in such great shape and I should have been able to do that comfortably and everything just felt really hard. It’s confusing, to be honest.” 

Healy will have another chance to make a semi-final if she secures a top-three finish in tomorrow’s repechage. 

“It’s hard to switch the focus straightaway, but I just have to get ready for it, cool down and recover, try to sleep, and get ready. Obviously now I have to just try to get through tomorrow.” 

O’Sullivan had little reason to look back with regret, having smashed her previous best of 4:02.15 to move fourth on the Irish all-time list behind her mother Sonia, Ciara Mageean and Healy. 

But there was still a slight sense of what-if given she’d clashed with Japan’s Nozomi Tanaka on the final lap and lost some crucial momentum, coming up just 0.6 short of a semi-final spot.

“I tried to go round her and she didn't want to let me past, she was blocking I guess, it was just enough to throw me off and lose a bit of momentum,” said O’Sullivan. 

“It wasn't much but it was probably the second I needed.” O’Sullivan said she was “kind of surprised” at her time. “I didn’t think we were going that fast at all. I was just focused on the six people and that’s where my focus was. Obviously, if you run the best you’ve ever run it’s great. You can’t not be grateful for that.” 

Ciara Mageean withdrew from the 1500m heats yesterday evening, having been unable to recover from an Achilles tendon issue. “I’m absolutely heartbroken not to be able to compete in my third Olympic Games,” she said. “I gave it everything to make it possible to be on the start line, but time was against me.” 

In the 400m repechages, Mawdsley simply didn’t have enough down the home straight to match Nigeria’s Ella Onojuvwevwo who took the one automatic spot in the semi-finals with 50.59, Mawdsley down on the 50.71 PB she set in the heats when clocking 51.18.

“I’d have had to run a PB to have qualified and I did that yesterday, which was annoying,” she said. “I think I ran everyone else’s race bar my own which is disappointing, but I’m not too disappointed. It’s the Olympic Games. I’m showing up when it counts.

“I think I’m losing out on training against the top girls in the last 60m which is where I’m getting caught, I think my form is still the same but on the mental side of it I’m like, ‘What do I do?’ I don’t know where to push or how to go to that next gear.” 

Mawdsley admitted she’d picked up a niggle behind her knee this week and spent two hours getting treatment yesterday but it held up in the race. 

“It is mentally hard when you’re going out and not sure if your body is going to make it around that full 400m but it is the Olympics and I said if I’m going to get injured, I may as well get injured here. I have what I needed from this championship, have the world standard for next year and I ran a PB yesterday, we still have the relay with the girls so it’s all to look forward to.” 

Becker corrected the error she made in the heats by committing to the race on the crown of the final bend and it paid off as she finished second to Kendall Ellis (50.44) in 51.28, her second-fastest-ever time. 

“Yesterday I lacked a bit of confidence at 250 and was scared to go with the girls but I did it today,” she said. 

“I can't be greedy as the perfectionist in me wants more, but I have to be happy with that.” 

Becker and Mawdsley will be back in action for the women’s 4x400m relay heats on Friday morning. 

“We will rest up tonight, shake out tomorrow and then meet with the relay on Thursday, we have batons and stuff, and the team will be named,” said Becker. “You can't dwell on this race too long.”