Irish team "really proud" after finishing eighth in world final

FANTASTIC FOUR: Ireland’s Sophie Becker, Jack Raftery, Chris O’Donnell and Sharlene Mawdsley after competing in the final. ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy

From the high of making another global final, there was ultimately disappointment for the Irish mixed 4x400m team at the World Championships in Oregon last night. The quartet of Chris O’Donnell, Sophie Becker, Jack Raftery and Sharlene Mawdsley finished eighth in the final in 3:16.86, with gold going to Dominican Republic in 3:09.82.

There was a notable absentee from the line-up in Rhasidat Adeleke, the 19-year-old Dubliner who earlier in the day had unleashed an astonishing 49.80-second anchor leg to hoist the Irish team into second and advance to the final. However, Adeleke was not named in the starting line-up for the final, which is understood to have been due to a request from her personal coach at the University of Texas, with the individual 400m heats to follow on Sunday.