World race walking champion Robert Heffernan and his wife Marian were celebrating yesterday following the birth of a daughter.
Marian Heffernan (31), delivered a 3.17kg (7lb) baby girl at Cork University Maternity Hospital yesterday having been admitted on Saturday. The 400m sprinter, who competed at the London Olympics, put her career aside a year ago to manage her husband's. She is also a qualified sports injuries therapist.
The couple, who live in Douglas, Cork, have an eight-year-old son, Cathal. Rob also has a daughter Meghan (10) from a previous relationship.
On Saturday Heffernan jokingly tweeted that it was “Inconsiderate of his darling wife’s waters to break in the middle of a hard training session.”
Heffernan and his son Cathal also posted humorous pictures on Facebook of the athlete who pretended to be getting ready for an epidural with the tag line, “Only ten hours to go. Still nothing at 50km.”
Last August Heffernan (35) became the first Irish athlete to win gold at the World Championships in 18 years when he was first over the line in the 50km walk in Moscow. He finished fourth in London but hopes to compete in Rio. He plans to compete in the World Race Walking Cup in China in May.
