Robert Heffernan

Robert Heffernan

Heffernan at the World Championships in 2009.
Personal information
Born	(1978-02-28) February 28, 1978 Cork, Ireland
Height	1.71 m (5 ft 7+1⁄2 in)
Weight	Template:Unit weight
Sport
Country	Ireland
Sport	Athletics
Event	50km Race Walk
Medal record Men's athletics Representing Ireland World Championships 2013 Moscow 50 km walk

Robert Heffernan (born 28 February 1978) is an Irish race walker. Having been seen as one of Ireland's best hopes of an athletics medal at the 2008 Olympic Games, he came eighth in the 20km Walk. His wife Marian Andrews is also national women's 400 metres champion and was on the Irish women's team that finished 4th in the European indoors. On 27 July 2010, Heffernan finished fourth in the 20 km walk, in a time of 1:21:00 (only 11 seconds away from a bronze medal). He also finished 4th in the 50km walk in a national record time of 3:45:30.This was an amazing achievement due to the fact it was just 3 days after the 20 km event.

Robert also doubled up in the London Olympic Games. In the 20km race he finished ninth. A week later he finished fourth in the 50km, finishing seven minutes faster than the previous national record. The two performances were the top two performances for the Irish Athletics team at the 2012 Olympics.

On 14 August 2013, Heffernan finished first in the 2013 World Championships 50km event in Moscow, finishing over a minute clear of the silver medal position with a winning time of 3:37:56. Speaking after the race Heffernan said "Its surreal, it's just a great feeling," he said. "When I came into the stadium it just felt like an out of body experience. It's hard to take it all in at the moment. I'm delighted."

Heffernan is a third-level student of the prestigious Sports Institution Setanta College.

Performance at major championships

Representing Ireland
Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
2000	European Race Walking Cup	Eisenhüttenstadt, Germany	18th	20 km	1:22:43
	Olympic Games	Sydney, Australia	28th	20 km	1:26:04
2001	European Race Walking Cup	Dudince, Slovakia	17th	20 km	1:23:57
	World Championships	Edmonton, Canada	14th	20 km	1:25:02
2002	European Championships	Munich, Germany	8th	20 km	1:21:10
2004	Olympic Games	Athens, Greece	—	20 km	DSQ
2005	World Championships	Helsinki, Finland	—	20 km	DSQ
2007	World Championships	Osaka, Japan	6th	20 km	1:23:42
2008	Olympic Games	Beijing, PR China	8th	20 km	1:20:36
2009	European Race Walking Cup	Metz, France	4th	20 km	1:25:21
	World Championships	Berlin, Germany	15th	20 km	1:22:09
2010	European Championships	Barcelona, Spain	4th	20 km	1:21:00
			4th	50 km	3:45:30
2012	Olympic Games	London, United Kingdom	9th	20 km	1:20:18
			4th	50 km	3:37:54
2013	World Championships	Moscow, Russia	1st	50 km	3:37:56

References

• Robert Heffernan at World Athletics
• Profile