Rhasidat Adeleke and Sharlene Mawdsley aiming to spearhead Ireland to further glory
Here we go again. Once more on to the blue track of the Stadio Olimpico, with four frantic laps awaiting across three pulsating minutes.
Four of the six fastest female 400m runners Ireland has ever produced, spearheaded by the quickest two of all time, Rhasidat Adeleke and Sharlene Mawdsley, who've spent the past five days running riot in Rome.
And now one last effort remains. But will there be a sweet sense of deja vu?
The Netherlands – a modern-day superpower of the women’s 4x400m relay – are once again standing between them and a European title, with Poland also looking a big threat, having won their heat yesterday and likely to be strengthened tonight with the addition of 400m champion Natalia Kaczmarek.
Stop me if you've heard this one before, but if things play out as expected in tonight's final, then Mawdsley will take the baton with an advantage over Dutch star Femke Bol, and how big that gap is could prove decisive.
If the Irish run to form, a medal looks certain, but gone are the days when an Irish team lined up for a final like this just happy to be there. The word has long got out about these European Championships at home, which have spread excitement about the sport far and wide.
Almost 600,000 people tuned into RTÉ Two on Monday night as Adeleke made such a valiant effort to win 400m gold. Let it no longer be said that athletics is a minority sport.
The order the four Irish women line up in will be confirmed today, but it will come as a huge shock if they digress from the tried and trusted: Sophie Becker leading them off, handing over to Adeleke.Â
Phil Healy waiting on the third leg, with Mawdsley on anchor – an athlete who has a remarkable habit of unlocking a new gear as soon as she has a baton in her hand, running free, running fast, and maybe - for the second time in six days - running Ireland to European gold.
In the 90-year history of this event, across 25 previous editions, only Sonia O'Sullivan had won gold for Ireland before. She's now joined in that club by Adeleke, Mawdsley, Thomas Barr, Chris O'Donnell and Ciara Mageean.
Becker and Healy could soon be in there, but to do so the Irish will have to dig deep after an exhausting week and do what they've so often done - deliver on the big stage.
In their heat yesterday, Becker, Healy, Mawdsley and Lauren Cadden took victory in 3:24.81, the second fastest women’s 4x400m time in Irish history, behind only the 3:24.38 they ran at the World Relays in The Bahamas last month, where Adeleke was part of the line-up.
Mawdsley had not been due to run the heats yesterday, having also raced the 400m final the night before, but was drafted in after Kelly McGrory withdrew during the warm-up due to injury.
The Tipperary sprinter took the baton in fourth, needing to secure a top-three spot, and she once again turned in a masterful anchor leg, splitting a blazing 49.76 to take victory, running the inside line all the way.
It soothed the pain of Monday night’s 400m final where she went out hard but tied up badly, finishing eighth in 51.59.
“I just completely gave up, lost the head,” she said of that race. “It was so unprofessional, but I came back and rectified myself.” Healy was also relieved to put her sub-par 200m heat firmly behind her.Â
“I had today to come out and use my anger for that and do a job for the girls,” she said. “It takes four of us to perform together, but 3:24? Everyone was shocked.”
With the addition of Adeleke, they could obliterate the national record this evening, but all that will matter to them is the medal, and its colour. The best ever Irish showing at the Europeans before this came in 1998, Sonia winning the 5000m-10,000m double and Mark Carroll winning bronze in the 5000m.
Ireland has already surpassed that here, but tonight is a chance to put this into uncharted territory with four medals. The final goes to the line at 8.05pm, and is live on RTÉ Two. Many will be watching, waiting, expecting, and the quartet look primed to deliver.
Elsewhere, five Irishmen will be in action in the 10,000m final, with Efrem Gidey looking to improve on his sixth-place finish from 2022, while Brian Fay, Peter Lynch, Barry Keane and Cormac Dalton will also run. Andrew Coscoran will round out the Irish interest in the men’s 1500m, where Norwegian star Jakob Ingebrigtsen should prove unstoppable.
Last night in Rome, Anika Thompson came home 20th in the women’s 10,000m clocking 33:19.42, while teammate Laura Mooney was 26th in 34:03.94. Nadia Battocletti coasted to her second win of the championships in an Italian record of 30:51.32, while in the men’s high jump the gold rush continued for the hosts through Olympic champion Gianmarco Tamberi.
World champions Femke Bol and Karsten Warholm were a class apart in the 400m hurdles finals, Bol clocking a world lead and championship record of 52.49, with Warholm clocking a championship record of 46.98.
Sophie Becker, Rhasidat Adeleke, Phil Healy, Sharlene Mawdsley, women’s 4x400m final
Brian Fay, Peter Lynch, Efrem Gidey, Barry Keane, Cormac Dalton, men’s 10,000m
Andrew Coscoran, men’s 1500m final
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
