{"id":25046,"date":"2025-09-16T14:16:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T14:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/25046\/"},"modified":"2025-09-16T14:16:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T14:16:09","slug":"irelands-sarah-healy-10th-in-1500m-world-athletics-championships-final-as-mcphillips-and-english-qualify-for-800m-semis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/25046\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland\u2019s Sarah Healy 10th in 1500m World Athletics Championships final as McPhillips and English qualify for 800m semis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tenth in the world 1500m final is, at 24, an excellent achievement, but at the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo on Tuesday night the Dubliner couldn\u2019t shake a slight sense of frustration.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the perfect race for me,\u201d she said, referring to the strong pace that played to her strengths, with 800m reached in a swift 2:07. \u201cIt was exactly what I\u2019d have wanted. I raced those on the Diamond League circuit and finished really strong but today, I was dying a bit. I know it sounds like I\u2019m being hard on myself, but it\u2019s the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having snuck into the final following a disqualification in her semi-final, Healy knew she\u2019d been gifted a golden opportunity. She wanted to seize it.<\/p>\n

She pitched herself mid-pack as the field of 14 athletes passed 400m in 63.96, with Kenyan great Faith Kipyegon towing them along. But she surrendered three places on the final lap, passed by athletes she knows she can beat.<\/p>\n

Tenth is the same result Ciara Mageean secured when reaching her first global 1500m final in 2019, with Mageean later going on to finish fourth in the 2023 world final and later winning European gold. At 24, Healy knows it\u2019s a great platform for what comes next.<\/p>\n

\u201cTenth is still a big achievement,\u201d she said. \u201cBut how I felt is a little disappointing and how I executed that race. I\u2019ve run those splits before and finished a lot better but today, I didn\u2019t have the legs any more. I raced really well for 1250 metres and just fell apart a bit in the end. I know I can do better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gold was won by Kipyegon in 3:52.15, the Kenyan great kicking off the front with a vicious last lap to secure her seventh global 1500m title ahead of Dorcus Ewoi (3:54.92) and Jessica Hull (3:55.16). Healy hit the line in 3:59.14.<\/p>\n

Healy made a lightning start to the outdoor season but felt her form had plateaued later in the summer and she wondered if she over-raced a touch on the build-up to Tokyo. \u201cI don\u2019t want to be having my best races at the start of the season,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I did sessions at the holding camp [which show] I\u2019m in the best shape I\u2019ve ever been in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kenya's<\/p>\n

Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi crosses the finish line to win his 800m heat ahead of Italy’s Francesco Pernici and Ireland’s Mark English. Photo: Reuters\/Sarah Meyssonnier<\/p>\n

Earlier in the night, Mark English and Cian McPhillips produced superb performances to advance to the 800m semi-finals, with McPhillips having the run of his life to win his heat in 1:44.91 and English taking third in his in 1:45.13.<\/p>\n

English, the five-time European medallist, had high hopes of reaching his first global final and the Donegal man utilised his vast experience to navigate a tricky heat, won by Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi in 1:45.05, with Italy\u2019s Francesco Pernici second in 1:45.11.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a bit of a funny heat because there was a lot of surging at about 300m to 500m which you don\u2019t usually see in 800m racing, so it was tough with that aspect,\u201d said English. \u201cThankfully I made a move from 500m to 600m and got into position and held on for third. I\u2019m looking forward to Thursday now, it\u2019ll be a good competition but I\u2019m ready for anyone in that stifling heat out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ireland's<\/p>\n

Ireland’s Cian McPhillips celebrates winning his men’s 800m heat during day four of the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan. Photo: Sam Barnes\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n

McPhillips, meanwhile, pulled off a massive upset to win his heat against some of the event\u2019s heavy hitters, the Longford native powering to victory with a huge kick ahead of USA\u2019s Bryce Hoppel (1:45.09) and Tyrice Taylor (1:45.13).<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m delighted with that,\u201d he said. \u201cA lot of hard work went into that; I\u2019ve a great team behind me who made all the right decisions to get me here. Thankfully I could execute the plan and get the job done.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe semi-final will be the best quality race I\u2019ve ever been in by a million miles, top two to qualify is pretty ruthless in the 800m. It\u2019ll be a quick race, I\u2019ll try do what I did there, throw myself in the mix and see what happens,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\"Ireland's<\/p>\n

Ireland’s Sharlene Mawdsley competes in the women’s 400m semi-finals at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan. Photo: Sam Barnes\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n

Sharlene Mawdsley was in action in the 400m semi-finals, the Newport sprinter finishing eight in 51.22, leaving her 20th overall. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone powered to victory in that semi-final in a stunning 48.29.<\/p>\n

Mawdsley will be back in action later this week in the women\u2019s 4x400m relay.<\/p>\n

Irish in action, Wednesday (Irish time)<\/p>\n

2.20pm: Andrew Coscoran, men\u2019s 1500m final<\/p>\n

World Athletics Championships, Tokyo \u2013 Live, RT\u00c9 Two, 11.15am; BBC Two, 11am<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tenth in the world 1500m final is, at 24, an excellent achievement, but at the Japan National Stadium…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25047,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,898,112],"class_list":{"0":"post-25046","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-latest-news-ticker","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}