In 2018, Phil Healy became the first Irish athlete in more than 40 years to simultaneously hold the national 100m and 200m records, cementing her place among the country’s greatest sprinters. Now, after a 14-year international career that included two Olympic appearances, European medals, and multiple national records, the 31-year-old has announced her retirement from international competition.

“Athletics has given me memories that I will cherish forever, friendships that will last a lifetime, and opportunities I could only have dreamed of as a young girl joining Bandon AC,” Healy said in her retirement statement.

Throughout her career healy has won 17 national senior championships and had national 100m and 200m records for several years. In 2018, she became the first Irish athlete in over 40 years to hold both records simultaneously. That same year, she also set Irish national records in the 100m (11.28 seconds) and 200m (22.99 seconds). These marks were later surpassed by Rhasidat Adeleke, but they were a standard for Irish sprinting for years and were a source of inspiration for the present generation of sprinters. 

Healy, a gifted junior who reached the European U20 100m final in 2013, first captured national attention in 2016, when a video of her closing an 80-metre deficit on the final leg of a 4x400m relay at the Irish University Championships went viral, with the comeback widely regarded as one of the greatest in athletics history.

She represented Ireland at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics as the first female trio in her country to compete in three track events in a single Games. She took part in the 200m, 400m, and mixed 4x400m relay. That team progressed on to become the first Irish relay team to an Olympic final. Individually, her finest championship run came at the 2021 European Indoor Championships, where she finished fourth in the 400m, missing a medal by just 0.21 seconds. 

Healy’s records have since fallen. But some of her most memorable achievements came in the closing years of her career. As a key member of Ireland’s emerging relay team, she helped the country reach new heights on the international stage, all while dealing with a health condition that made competing at the highest level increasingly difficult.

Relay glory and a battle with illness defined her final years

Healy’s biggest contribution to Irish athletics came through the women’s 4x400m relay. In the European Championships in Rome in 2024, she was a part of the quartet which won silver in a then national record 3:22.71 — one of the greatest nights in Irish athletics history. 

The same quartet of Healy, Sophie Becker, Rhasidat Adeleke, and Sharlene Mawdsley shattered that record again at the Paris Olympics several months later, clocking 3:19.90 but falling short of a bronze medal by just 0.18 seconds. On both occasions, Healy produced the quickest relay split of her career, including a 50.94-second third leg in the Olympic final.

That run came while Healy was managing Hashimoto’s disease, an autoimmune thyroid condition that severely restricted her training and recovery in her final competitive years. Even with the illness, she persisted in competing at the highest standard all the way to her last cap at the 2025 World Relays. 

Athletics Ireland President Bríd Golden paid tribute to Healy’s impact on the sport: “Over the past decade and more, Phil has been a trailblazer for sprinting in Ireland. Her achievements – from Olympic finals to European medals and national records – speak for themselves, but inspiring a generation to believe in what is possible on the world stage will be her lasting legacy.”

Healy made clear that her connection to the sport is far from over, even as her competitive career closes. “While my competitive career may be ending, my connection to sport will always remain strong. I look forward to supporting my teammates and watching athletics continue to thrive and grow both in Ireland and beyond,” she said.

She leaves behind not only her records but her influence on the current generations of Irish sprinters. Several of them have carried the torch and are now breaking the records she set.