Miracle worker Mawdsley has too much to do as Irish inexperience shows in Apeldoorn

Fresh 4x400m team proud of their fight while Lavin scorches into semi-finals after stellar win in heat of 60m hurdles

Thu, 06 Mar, 2025 - 21:58

Cathal Dennehy

Anytime she gets the baton for the anchor leg of a relay, Sharlene Mawdsley tends to make the absurdly difficult seem not just possible, but highly probable. But there is working miracles and then there is doing the impossible: bringing a team back from the dead and hoisting them into a medal position.

This was a bold, brave attempt at doing the latter. But in the end it wasn't enough.

At the European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, the Newport star shook off a slight illness and unleashed another remarkable final leg, splitting 49.93 seconds. This time it wasn’t enough, the Irish finishing fifth in the European Indoor mixed 4x400m final, clocking 3:17.63.

Femke Bol anchored the Netherlands to victory in 3:15.63, the Dutch star splitting 50.33 while seemingly running well within herself, with Belgium taking silver in 3:16.19 and Britain the bronze in 3:16.49.

The Irish were led off by 17-year-old Conor Kelly, a rising star whose inexperience at this level became quickly apparent, Kelly getting bullied at the break in lanes by his senior rivals and forced to stutter. He was forced to check his stride again on the back straight, losing valuable metres.

“I started well, the first 100m I got out and was up on everyone, and I should have really pressed at the break, I should have gone for it,” he said. “People attacked and got ahead of me and it killed my momentum. I tried to get around but it was pretty tricky.”

He handed over to Phil Healy, who ran a strong first 300m but tied up thereafter, leaving Marcus Lawler in sixth. Both Healy and Lawler encountered significant traffic in the changeover zone due to Ireland bringing up the rear. The Carlow man ran a swift opening lap and hauled Ireland up to fifth but soon the tank ran dry and he gave the baton to Mawdsley several metres behind the fifth-placed team.

“There’s lots of positives to take,” said Lawler. “But we probably thought we could come out here and have a cut, so it’s disappointment. We all set such high standards.”

Mawdsley was glad to get “the nerves out of the way” ahead of her individual campaign and had no regrets about blasting the first lap on the anchor leg to give herself a shot.

“I thought I’d be brave in the first 200 and close the gap, but the 400m is only so long,” she said. “I’m proud of the performance and the guys stepping up.”

Earlier in the evening, Sarah Lavin produced a superb run in the heats of the 60m hurdles, the Limerick athlete powering to victory in a big season’s best of 7.93. Lavin ran a crisp, clean race and came home well clear of France’s Laeticia Bapte (7.97), her time bettered by only four athletes across the other heats.

“It was really good,” said Lavin. “One of the hardest things is going into a championship and having no confidence and I didn’t have races go to plan for several reasons and I had to pull that out with little or no evidence. I knew I was in as good or better shape than last year and I was feeling I could do it, but doing it is another thing. To win your heat, beat the European number one and run a season’s best, I couldn’t really ask for more.”

She will race the semi-finals Friday afternoon, with a potential final to follow in the evening, and on this form Lavin looks capable of surpassing her best ever finish at this event – sixth in Istanbul two years ago.

There was heartbreak, however, for Cathal Doyle in his debut at the European Indoors. Drawn alongside world record holder Jakob Ingebrigtsen in his 1500m heat, Doyle threw himself into contention from the outset but was slightly shuffled back through the field with 500 metres to run. Then disaster struck, Doyle clipping another athlete and stumbling, windmilling his arms to avoid hitting the track and losing several metres – and his chance at top-three qualification.

Conscious that he had to finish the race to lodge a successful protest for reinstatement, he coasted to the line, finishing ninth and last in 3:52.33. His appeal was unsuccessful.

“I came here to make a final and make an impact on the front end but I got tripped and it put me off balance, right as the race was getting going,” said Doyle. “It’s hard to motivate yourself at that point, you’re sprinting for nothing. I was in a good position, and was stepping out to move around and that’s when the clip came. Everyone was starting to go at that point as Jakob was starting to move up. When you look up you’re like, ‘aw f**k.’ You’d make it back up at nationals, but not here.”