PHIL Healy has lived her dream.

‘The little 11-year-old girl who joined Bandon Athletic Club 20 years ago wouldn't have dreamed any of this was possible,’ she tells The Southern Star this week, after announcing her retirement from athletics.

Now 31 years old, the queen of Ballineen hangs up her spikes after an incredible career that saw her lead the charge in Irish women’s sprinting.

‘I literally joined the club to keep (my older sister) Joan company. I was there for the craic and tried every event going,’ she adds.

Phil found her calling on the track.

Blessed with strong athletic genes from her parents, Phil had the ideal combination of endurance and speed.

Add in the resilience and steel that backboned her rise from West Cork to two Olympic finals, Phil had it all – on and off the track.

The good times – and fast times – followed.

‘For me, I've done everything in the sport,’ she says.

‘I've represented Ireland for 14 consecutive years – bar the Covid interruption – and I'm not sure if many athletes can say that. It's taken its toll, mentally and physically, but I've achieved everything I wanted to achieve.’

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

Phil’s highlight reel is cinema-worthy.

A two-time Olympian (Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024), she competed in relay finals at both Games and was part of the Irish women’s 4x400m team that finished fourth in Paris in an Irish record time of 3:19.90.

In Tokyo, Phil was also the first Irish woman to compete in three track events at the same Olympics.

Her silver medal with the 4x400m relay team at the 2024 Europeans is a standout memory.

She was the fastest woman in Ireland who held the 100m (11.28) and 200m (22.99) records, becoming the first Irish woman to ever run under 23 seconds for the 200. Phil hit the headlines in 2018 when she became the first Irish athlete in over 40 years to hold both the national 100m and 200m records at the same time. History-maker.

There were 17 national titles between indoors and outdoors, from 60m to 400m.

Phil did it all.

Saying goodbye was always going to be hard, and it is. But she knows this is the right decision. Health issues in recent years have slowed her down and taken its toll.

‘It's been an unbelievably difficult decision, but I always wanted to leave on my own terms. I never wanted injury to force me out and I never wanted to be one of those athletes desperately trying to get back,’ Phil says.

‘This was my decision.

‘Back in 2023, when I took the summer off and missed the World Championships, I certainly didn’t think I’d make it back to another Olympic Games. I didn’t think I’d help qualify the relay team for Paris just months later.

‘That’s why this decision has been so emotional.

‘I was talking recently to my agent, Sinéad, and my sports psychologist, Ciara Losty, asking why I kept crying every time I spoke about retirement. They reminded me that it’s like any relationship coming to an end. There is a grieving process.

‘Athletics has been my be-all and end-all for 14 years. Every decision revolved around training. What impact would this have? Would I be up too late? Was I eating the wrong thing? Could I go to that dinner? Could I attend that event?

‘I've missed countless occasions with family and friends, but those are the sacrifices you make.

‘Now I'm walking away from that.’

Phil Healy was making headlines in The Southern Star in 2013.

Phil knows this is the right time to say goodbye. She was never going to compete beyond 2026, and with continuing health issues, she has made the right call on her terms.

Diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease (an autoimmune thyroid condition) in 2022, it took time to get to grips with it. It’s why her incredible 2024 means so much – she battled back to reach the summit, again.

‘My fatigue had really worsened over the last few months. Back in January I was sitting in my consultant's office asking, “Why am I so tired?” More tests followed and my medication was doubled. When we repeated the tests in April, my results were actually worse than before I started medication,’ Phil explains.

‘That gave me the answer. My thyroid is under constant autoimmune attack and my body isn’t responding the way it should. For some people it stabilises. For others it gets progressively worse. Unfortunately, mine has continued to worsen.

‘That means constant monitoring and constant medication, and that’s before you even add elite-level training into the mix.

‘The medication can take six to eight weeks to settle. During that time you have to pull back on training. It’s not like an injury where you can focus on another area. You reduce the intensity, reduce the volume, wait for your body to adjust, then build back up again, only for your body to go haywire once more.

‘It’s a losing battle at times.’

Phil Healy with her silver medal at the European Championships in Rome.

She knows now is the right time.

‘The question I kept asking myself was simple: did I still have the desire to continue? Honestly, I didn’t,’ Phil admits.

‘I don't have the same motivation anymore. I've done everything I wanted to do in the sport. If I had come back, it would only have been to compete this summer and then stop.’

As Phil started to tell those nearest to her about her decision, she was taken back by the reaction.

‘The messages from Sharlene (Mawdlsey) and Sophie (Becker) were incredibly special. They told me I'd been their idol for years and that they had aspired to be where I was. Hearing things like that means a lot.’

She raced at the top for 14 years in a row, and as she moves into a slower lane, it’s a chance to stop and reflect on her career.

‘What gets me emotional isn’t the medals or the records. It’s hearing from people and realising the impact you’ve had on them.

‘I've never seen myself as anything special. I just trained hard, devoted my life to the sport and was lucky enough to receive incredible opportunities, lifelong friendships and memories I'll cherish forever.’

It’s onto her next chapter, as she moves home to West Cork for a while, and also starts a new job with Cornmarket Group Financial Services.

She lived her dream. Now it’s time to make more memories.