Rob Heffernan, World Champion and Olympic Bronze medallist racewalker, announced his retirement from the sport yesterday. He joined Miriam O’Callaghan to talk about his career and what led him to make this decision.
Making the official announcement has prompted him to become “very reflective”, Rob told Miriam.
“I was in very strange form yesterday, you know. That part of my life now is gone. It felt like a death, you know…It’s a lot to take in but I’ve had a great career and I’ve been very, very lucky and I’ve been thinking about this the last few months so it was the right time to move aside.”
Rob says that he appreciates the chance to look back on what he has achieved in a sporting career that spanned almost two decades.
“When I look back now throughout my whole career, I was nearly obsessive. I was always obsessive and hungry and always wanted to get better and you know, I never really got to enjoy the moments along the way because I would always be very self-critical of myself.”
Rob explained that he had hit “the point where you’re not going to improve anymore”
“The decline starts to come in and you start recognising that. It’s very, very hard to keep going…I wasn’t going to be competitive at the level that I was competitive at.“
The last 24 hours have also been a chance to reflect on the support he has enjoyed from family and friends over the years and to, perhaps, assess how his drive may have impacted people dear to him, like his wife Marian.
“Now when I look back, I put savage demands on people...the demands I put on Marian…Like, I would give out if I didn’t get my drink at the right time or if she didn’t have my lactic [acid] taken at the end. Really, really selfish, like...I think I’m going to ring a lot of people today and say sorry.“
Miriam asked if he has any regrets about his career. Rob told her he believes that any bad experiences he had helped inform where he ended up today.
“The bad times built my character. You know when people always look back and you know, obviously, I was involved in races where I was outdone by Russians and I later got medals [when they were stripped of their wins]...All of these experiences, they made me hungrier to keep succeeding. So, I don’t have any regrets.“
Rob’s next project is working with Bank of Ireland as a Youth Ambassador.
“It’s great. You know, I’m very grateful that I’m moving into something now that’s really, really positive and it kind of fits my personality and fits what I’ve done in my own career.”
Listen back to the full interview on Today with Miriam here.