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Robert Heffernan
Robert Heffernan helps teams build resilience, focus, and long-term performance. A five-time Olympian, 2013 world champion, and Olympic bronze medallist, he's also a performance coach and broadcaster.
Robert Heffernan is a world champion race walker, five-time Olympian, and performance coach. He speaks about resilience, focus, and sustained excellence, drawing on more than two decades at the top of Irish sport.
Rob won 50km gold at the 2013 World Championships and Olympic bronze from London 2012, and he's Ireland's only male athlete with medals at the Olympics, World Championships, and European Championships. He holds all Irish national race walking records and captained Ireland's athletics team at the Rio Olympics.
Rob took up race walking after being overlooked for his school's Gaelic football team. He's since worked as a performance coach, including with Cork's senior footballers, and as a broadcaster and host of the Red Raw podcast. His London 2012 bronze, upgraded from fourth place in 2016, underlines a career-long commitment to clean sport, and gives him real credibility on integrity and patience.
Audiences hear how he built a career on discipline and focus, how he handled the mental and emotional side of elite sport, and how he reached his peak at 35. He covers high performance, leadership, and mental health in themed talks, and also hosts events and speaks after dinner.
Book Rob for a grounded account of long-term performance from one of Ireland's most decorated athletes.
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frequently asked questions
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Robert Heffernan uses his own route from overlooked schoolboy to world champion as the through-line of his talks, tying discipline, focus, and sustained excellence to specific points in his career.
Robert Heffernan speaks on high performance, resilience, mental health, and leadership in elite sport. A five-time Olympian, he won gold at the 2013 World Championships in the 50km race walk and is Ireland's only male athlete with medals at the Olympics, World Championships, and European Championships.
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