OLYMPIC medallist Rob Heffernan is set to join John Cleary’s Cork senior football backroom team as performance coach for the 2023 season.

Heffernan will join Kevin Walsh (Galway), Ray Keane (MTU/St Finbarr’s), Barry Corkery (Éire Óg), James Loughrey (Mallow), and Mícheál Ó Cróinín (Naomh Abán), who have all been confirmed as selectors for the coming campaign.

44-year-old Heffernan now coaches elite athletes in his field, having retired from international race-walking in 2013 on the back of a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics and gold at the World Championships in Moscow the following year.

He will add a fresh voice to the set-up, which has already been boosted by the recruitment of former Galway and Sligo manager Walsh as a coach.  

Heffernan recently set up a new athletics club in the city and is a morning presenter on RedFM.

There have already been changes to the squad for next season, including recalls for Bantry's Ruairí Deane and Tadhg Mac Cárthaigh's Brian O'Driscoll, who both caught they eye in the Premier Senior Football Championship with Carbery.