SHANE McCormack can pick from a library of words to describe Phil Healy, but the one he settles on is resilient.

Her long-time coach, who has worked with the Bandon AC star since she first contacted him in 2013, had a front-row seat for her rise from promising sprinter to trailblazer for Irish women's athletics.

But among all the records, titles and unforgettable days, it is Healy's steel that stands out most.

‘There are lots of results and performances you could point to, but for me it's the resilience. It was always about finding a way forward, even when things looked really dark,’ McCormack tells The Southern Star.

She has been open about her health struggles in 2022 and ’23 that led her to question her future in the sport.

But Healy dug deep.

She fought her way back.

In 2024, she reminded the nation of just how good she is, helping the Irish women’s 4x400m relay team win a European silver medal and then finish fourth in the Olympic relay final at Paris.

‘After Covid and the illness, there were times when it felt like there might never be a good day again. Then she got healthy and got that opportunity in 2024,’ McCormack says.

‘I think that summer defines her career. To go from being one of the best indoor runners in the world to barely being able to train, and then come all the way back to win a global medal and keep her place on the relay team, was remarkable.

‘To borrow an Alex Ferguson phrase, it was her bounce-backability. Even when a season was disappointing, she'd come back stronger the following year. We always found a way.’

Shane McCormack with Phil Healy.

Together, McCormack and Healy shared some incredible memories. Records. Titles. Personal bests. She was the queen of Irish women’s sprinting for a period before the emergence of Rhasidat Adeleke, Sharlene Mawdsley and Sophie Becker – her relay team-mates she hit her greatest heights alongside.

And McCormack believes that may be her greatest achievement.

‘I think the legacy is every female athlete who follows in her footsteps, both now and into the future,’ he says.

He knows the Healy impact better than most.

His daughter Sadie Grace and friend Chloe Cogley won gold in the 300m and bronze in the 60m at last weekend’s national children’s games and U12 championships. Healy took time out to coach them the week before.

‘My daughter is turning eight in a few weeks and we were at a juvenile competition at the weekend, the national pairs. It's the opposite end of the spectrum, but she was wearing bows that Phil had bought for her because Phil, Rhasidat and Sharlene wore them at the Olympics,’ he explains.

Phil Healy with Sadie Grace McCormack and Chloe Cogley.

‘The amount of girls there wearing those bows was incredible. That's the legacy. These are the girls who won European silver medals and competed in Paris, but you could argue that team wouldn't have existed if Phil hadn't started her 400-metre journey eight years ago and shown what was possible.

‘She helped show athletes like Sophie Becker and Sharlene that you didn't have to stay at 100 or 200 metres, that there were opportunities at 400 metres too. I don't think there would have been medals or Olympic relay success without Phil.

‘You can go back to Tokyo when there was no relay programme and the team was essentially unfunded. Phil, Sophie, Chris (O’Donnell) and Cillian (Greene) qualified for that mixed relay final against all the odds. That changed everything. Suddenly Sport Ireland and the Government had to take notice because Ireland had a top-eight team in the world.

‘So her legacy is inspirational, but it’s also practical. She helped create opportunities and pathways that simply weren't there before.’

Phil with her Ireland 4x400m relay team-mates, Sophie Becker, Rhasidat Adeleke and Sharlene Mawdsley.

McCormack was by her side when Healy became the first Irish woman to run under 23 seconds for 200 metres, when she held both the national 100m and 200m records, when she competed in three events at the Tokyo Olympics and when she finished fourth at the European Indoors in 2021. The list goes on.

‘One hundred percent she was a trailblazer,’ he says.

‘People forget that most of her record-breaking runs came before the advances in spikes and technology that athletes have now. She ran those times in the older generation of spikes, before carbon plates and all the other developments.

‘That's not taking anything away from the athletes competing today, but not many people have run the times Phil ran. It took someone of Rhasidat’s quality to break some of those records and Sharlene is flying at the moment as well.

‘The biggest thing was that Phil made the commitment. She moved to Waterford, sacrificed a lot and backed herself. I'm delighted those sacrifices paid off because she achieved what she set out to achieve.'