Sharlene shines like a Diamond in Paris
By Thomas Conway
The Diamond League is World Athletics’ top-tier annual competition for elite-grade athletes. It is where the stars come out to play and it therefore seems rather fitting that Sharlene Mawdsley was among them in Paris last Sunday evening.
The 27-year-old Newport sprinter is now one of the most recognisable faces in Irish sport and her blistering 2026 form has garnered international attention. She deserves to be on this stage and she duly confirmed that on Sunday, clocking another personal best time of 50.06 seconds to edge ever closer to the 50-second barrier.
It was her fourth PB so far this season and her second in the space of week. Her direction of travel is clear and the path leads to the European Championships in Birmingham next month. If she can reproduce this kind of form at the Alexander Stadium in mid-August, she may well contend for a medal.
Although Sunday was her Diamond League debut, Mawdsley showed little sign of being over-awed by her opponents in a race which contained a sprinkling of some of the finest women’s 400m runners on the planet. Ultimately it was the Olympic champion, the Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino, who emerged as winner, powering down the home straight to finish in a time of 48.48 seconds.
She was followed by world indoor champion Lurdes Gloria Manuel of the Czech Republic, who crossed the line almost a second later in 49.37. Jamaica’s Stacey Ann Williams took third in 49.51, while Dutch woman Lieke Klaver finished fourth in 49.97.
Mawdsley wasn’t far behind. She finished 0.09 seconds behind Klaver in fifth, a result which also elevates her to fifth in the European rankings for this year. Among those trailing the Tipperary woman were reigning European champion Natalia Bukowiecka and 2025 world indoor champion Amber Anning, both of whom managed top-five finishes at the Paris Olympics.
It has already been a remarkable 2026 for Mawdsley, who kick-started the season with a sensational anchor leg performance at the World Relay Championships in Botswana, securing Ireland a 2027 World Championship berth.
She subsequently recorded an individual 400m personal best at an event in Italy, lowering her time to 50.52, before whittling it down further to 50.17 in Brussels three days later.
A statement performance at the FBK Games in the Netherlands last Sunday week saw her come within touching distance of what would have been a landmark win. She was ultimately pipped, but still secured a new PB of 50.14.
From an Irish perspective all eyes will now turn to next Saturday’s Diamond League meeting in Eugene, Oregon. It is there that Rhasidat Adeleke is expected to run her first 400m of the season. The 2024 European silver medal winner was the first Irish woman to break the 50-second mark in the 400m. It looks inevitable that Mawdsley will soon be joining her in that category.