Mawdsley and Ireland miss Adeleke in Relays

By Thomas Conway

It was a historic weekend for Irish athletics, but not unfortunately, for Sharlene Mawdsley and the women’s 4x400 metre relay team.

Kate O’Connor’s showstopping silver medal performance in the heptathlon rightly captured all the headlines.

The 24 year-old Dundalk athlete was crowned second-best in her seven-discipline event, making her just the sixth Irish recipient of a World Championship medal - after Sonia O’Sullivan (1993 and 1995), Gillian O’Sullivan (2003), Olive Loughnane (2009) and Rob Heffernan (2013).

Within seventy minutes of O’Connor’s final event, 23 year-old Cian McPhillips very nearly squeezed his way past Canadian Marco Arop into the bronze medal position at the climax of the men’s 800 metres. Had he done so, it would have capped an extraordinary evening in Tokyo for Team Ireland.

In the end, McPhillips had to settle for a personal best and a national record, his time of 1:42.15 almost a second faster than the pace he had set in the semi-final, and 0:00.20 off Arop in third. He will be back again, no doubt.

Earlier that evening, Mawdsley and the women’s relay outfit had run hard but failed to ever really ignite. Ultimately the quartet of Sophie Becker, Cliodhna Manning, Rachel McCann & Mawdsley finished eighth in their semi-final heat, clocking a collective time of 3:29.27, in a race which was won comfortably by the US, who flitted around the track in a swift 3:22.53.

The general feeling, in the aftermath, was one of profound disappointment. The absence of star sprinter Rhasidat Adeleke - who withdrew from the championships in August due to injury - had dented their prospects considerably, and although they were always going to be up against it, there was still some hope amongst the Irish.

Becker exploded out of the blocks and powered through most of her leg but started to fade massively in the last twenty metres. Whereas usually the baton would have been passed to Adeleke, it was handed over to Manning, who, try as she might, couldn’t match the pace of her rivals. Nor could McCann.

By the time Mawdsley got the baton, Ireland’s race was effectively run. Although the Newport star recorded the quickest split of the foursome, it wasn’t enough, and Ireland finished in eighth.

Mawdsley’s appraisal of the race was honest. She cut a lonely figure on that final 400, but she gave it her all, just like her teammates.

“You do kind of feel the isolation when you are so far behind, so in your head you’re asking yourself do you go for it in that first 200, or do you just hang back and try to run a smooth race,” she reflected.

“That’s what I did - it was just smooth. I felt like there wasn’t really much I could do at that stage of the race, but I still tried my best, the girls tried their best, and that’s all you can ask for.”

A slightly disconsolate Mawdsley also acknowledged the team’s disappointment but sounded a positive note for the future.

“Obviously we’re very disappointed with that time. I don’t think it’s a reflection of where Irish 400 metre running is right now. Hopefully we can improve on that next year,” she said.

The United States would ultimately coast to gold on a glistening, rain-soaked track on the final night of the championships, with 400 metre champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone sweeping to victory on the final leg. The US (3:16.61) were followed by Jamaica (3:19.25) in second and the Netherlands (3:20.18) in third.

The Irish, with their best team and in their best form, have clocked times in the region of 3 minutes 19 seconds in the past.

They have the potential to rebound from this - but they will need Adeleke.