Watch: 'Stuff of dreams' as Ireland's 4x400m Relay heroes receive gold medals in Rome
HISTORY MAKERS: The Ireland 4x400m relay team, from left, Thomas Barr, Rhasidat Adeleke, Chris O'Donnell and Sharlene Mawdsley celebrate with their gold medals during day two of the 2024 European Athletics Championships at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy. Pic: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile
Together they stood, proud as can be, smiling and singing and basking in the golden glow of a rare achievement. It’s a feeling every athlete dreams of, but one precious few get to experience.
But at the European Championships in Rome today, Chris O’Donnell, Rhasidat Adeleke, Thomas Barr and Sharlene Mawdsley made that a reality, the victorious Irish quartet receiving their gold medals for last night’s mixed 4x400m relay in front of a sizable Irish contingent, who sang along as Amhrán na bhFiann blasted out from a stage alongside the Stadio Olimpico.
Who is cutting those onions again 😭😭
— Athletics Ireland (@irishathletics) June 8, 2024
The pride 😍🇮🇪@ChrisOD400 🥇@TomBarr247 🥇@sharlenem229 🥇@rhasidatadeleke 🥇#IrishAthletics pic.twitter.com/exIhW8inyl
O’Donnell called it the “stuff of dreams” after getting his medal, while Adeleke said having the huge Irish support present brought them “so much motivation”, adding: “It gives us hopes for the rest of the championships. This is a very good starting point.”
The night before, they’d turned in one of the great performances in Irish athletics history, winning the mixed 4x400m relay in a blazing time of 3:09.92, just one second shy of the world record and the sixth fastest time in history. In the 90-year history of the European Championships, across 25 previous editions, only one athlete – Sonia O’Sullivan – had ever won gold for Ireland.
“Unbelievable,” said Barr shortly after the ceremony. “I thought my days of standing on podiums were possibly over but with the help of this team, we managed to get to the top of the podium, hear Amhrán na bhFiann ringing out and having a heavy gold medal around our necks and calling ourselves European champions, that’s not going to get old anytime soon.”
All will be in action in individual events in the coming days, with Adeleke and Mawdsley holding big medal chances in Monday night’s women’s 400m final, assuming they advance from tomorrow’s semi-finals. But for today, the focus was on enjoying the reward for their three-minute, nine-second exhibition of relay brilliance, which had been many years in the making.
“Once Ireland are here, they always show up,” said Mawdsley. “To step on the podium and hear Ireland announced as winners was something special, something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”
17:00: Oisin Lane, men’s 20km race walk 19:12: Sarah Lavin, women’s 100m hurdles semi-final 20:10: Israel Olatunde, men’s 100m semi-final 21:08: *Sarah Lavin, women’s 100m hurdles final 21:28: Brian Fay, men’s 5000m 21:53: *Israel Olatunde, men’s 100m final *pending qualification Live: RTÉ Two, BBC Red Button, Eurovisionsport.com
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