Phil Healy boosts her 400m Olympic qualification bid with national senior title triumph

BALLINEEN bullet Phil Healy won her 13th national senior title on Saturday and her first 400m outdoor crown to boost her chances of qualifying in this distance for next month’s Olympics.

The Bandon AC sprint star was the class act in the women’s 400m field at the national championships in Santry and she proved it with a powerful performance, winning the final in 52.33. This will earn Healy more valuable ranking points in her bid for 400m Olympic qualification.

Healy is already on course to compete in the 200m and with the Irish 4x400m mixed relay team at the Games, and is closing in on 400m qualification, too. The West Cork woman finished well ahead of Cliodhna Manning (53.18) in second and Catherine McManus (54.36) in third.

Phil Healy’s (Brandon) first National Women’s Outdoor 400m Title and collecting points for Tokyo on her way (52.33) ? ?

?Cliodhna Manning (KCH) 53.18
?Catherine McManus (DCH) 54.36

Unfortunately Sharlene Mawdsley who had been running well had to pull up pic.twitter.com/1cmxIo2w6P

— Athletics Ireland (@irishathletics) June 26, 2021

Meanwhile, Glengarriff’s Darragh McElhinney finished just outside the medals in the men’s 1500m when he came in fourth, just 0.16 behind Kevin Kelly in bronze.