Despite valiant performances, Sophie O’Sullivan and Sarah Healy narrowly missed securing direct qualification from the women’s 1,500 metres heats at the Stade de France on Tuesday morning.
In her first Olympic appearance, O’Sullivan participated in the initial of the three heats. Her remarkable run slashed almost two seconds off her previous personal best, clocking in at 4:00.23. However, her seventh-place finish edged her out of qualification by a single position.
Regrettably, Healy experienced the same fate. After initially achieving the sixth spot approaching the finish line, she was overtaken shortly before the end by Maia Ramsden from New Zealand. The Irish contestant fell to the ground, her exertion utterly spent.
Subsequent to the heats, only the leading six participants progressed to the semi-finals scheduled for Thursday with the remaining contenders diverted to the repechage round. This is set to occur on Wednesday morning, 11.45 Ireland’s time.
O’Sullivan, who’s 22, was up against formidable competitors such as Britain’s Laura Muir and Gudaf Tsegay from Ethiopia, the latter being the world record holder in the 5,000m category who had contested the final the previous evening.
From the outset, the pace was set by Nozomi Tanaka of Japan amongst a field of 15 contestants. Despite O’Sullivan’s tireless chase for the crucial sixth position until the home stretch, her endeavour was slightly inadequate.
Following the event, O’Sullivan expressed her sentiments, “It’s rewarding to run at your best, it’s all you can genuinely hope for. Though challenging, it felt more manageable. I felt like I still had the energy with a lap remaining to see it through to the end.”
“I was genuinely delighted to realise how good I felt. It came as an unexpected surprise when it didn’t seem like we were moving particularly quickly. The magnitude of the crowd is something one can truly grasp only when present in the moment, rendering it quite amazing to watch, even to a point where you momentarily forget your jitters. It was an incredible experience.”
Tsegay emerged victorious with a time of 3:58.84, closely followed by Muir at 3:58.91. The top six contenders all managed a sub-four score, with the final slot bagged by Emily Mackay from the USA, surpassing O’Sullivan in the process. Despite ending up in the seventh place, O’Sullivan improved her previous personal best time of 4:02.15 set during last year’s World Championships by clocking 4:00.23.
With only 200m left in the race, O’Sullivan had to briefly deviate from her course and loosen her pace when attempting to overtake Tanaka. “Tanaka was decelerating,” O’Sullivan explained. “I aimed for a way past her. However, her unpredictable movements led me into colliding with her. Despite my best attempts to overtake, she didn’t yield. The slight blockage disturbed my rhythm and cost me valuable momentum. While it wasn’t a large disruption, it was sufficient to affect my performance and perhaps cost me that much-needed second. I’d say it’s primarily my error,” she admitted.
Healy, aged 23, experienced her first-ever Olympic race in the following heat, competing against the esteemed defending champion, Faith Kipyegon, who had clinched the second position in the 5,000m final just 12 hours earlier.
The heat was eventually won by Ethiopia’s Diribe Welteji, recording a time of 3:59.73, while Ramsden secured the sixth position, surpassing the contestant from Dublin, who had earlier tumbled over the finishing line during the World Indoors in March.
Reflecting on her performance, Healy expressed, “It was far from ideal. Candidly speaking, I am quite discontented with the way the race turned out. I fell into a rhythm that didn’t suit me, and towards the climax, my pace choked up, a situation that’s occurred twice already, leaving me wondering – what’s amiss?”
Ciara Mageean expressed her disappointment and struggle as she competed in top condition but struggled with the pace. Despite her efforts to maintain her sixth place, she didn’t know she had a fierce competitor close behind. If she had been aware, she might have clung to that position. Nevertheless, her dissatisfaction with her performance overshadowed everything, and her immediate focus is on the upcoming challenge. Her emotions were further confounded by her circumstances.
Ciara’s despair escalated to absolute heartbreak when she was compelled to pull out from the third heat on Monday night due to an injury in her Achilles tendon.