Sarah Healy is set to leave Manchester’s M11 Track Club, bringing a significant chapter in her career to a close as she prepares for the 2027 season.
The Dubliner, who joined the training group in November 2022, has yet to decide on her next training arrangement.
Coached by Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows, M11 has brought together some of the biggest names in British athletics. Keely Hodgkinson won Olympic 800m gold in Paris in 2024, while Georgia Hunter Bell took bronze over 1500m. Another member of the group, Lewis Davey, earned bronze with Britain’s men’s 4x400m relay team.
For Healy, that environment offered daily exposure to athletes competing at the very highest level.
The coaching partnership combined Painter’s training expertise with Meadows’ experience as an international athlete. In an interview with England Athletics, the pair described an approach that put considerable emphasis on supporting athletes beyond their performances on the track, alongside the demands of preparing them for major championships.
Healy’s own results during that period included one of the outstanding Irish performances of 2025.
At the European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, she won 3000m gold in 8:52.86, edging Britain’s Melissa Courtney Bryant by just six hundredths of a second. Her decisive finish delivered Ireland’s first gold at the championships since David Gillick in 2007.
It was a breakthrough built on patience and timing. Healy waited until the closing stages before making her challenge, securing the senior European title that had followed years of promise and progress.
More success followed outdoors. In June 2025, she claimed her first Diamond League victory over 1500m in Rome, running 3:59.17 to beat Australia’s Sarah Billings and Abbey Caldwell.
That race required another determined finish. Billings moved ahead on the final bend, but Healy fought back over the last 50 metres to take the win. Later that summer, she reached the World Championships 1500m final in Tokyo, finishing tenth in 3:59.14.
Her 2026 European Championships campaign brought further evidence of her range. Healy finished fourth over 5000m in Birmingham, missing bronze by just 0.30 seconds, before taking fifth in the 1500m. Two finishes close to the medals also left a clear sense of opportunity for the seasons ahead.
Her next major target is to defend her European indoor 3000m title in Valencia in March 2027. She is also considering her longer term event choices, with the 5000m increasingly relevant alongside the 1500m.
The next coaching arrangement remains an important decision. Healy will take into it the experience of winning a European title, beating strong international fields and reaching a world final. There is already plenty to build on.
