Team Ireland produce polished performance to seal mixed relay final berth in Guangzhou

Another superb last leg from Mawdsley carried them into the automatic qualification spots for the final

Sat, 10 May, 2025 - 13:17

Cathal Dennehy

The Irish mixed 4x400m team of Conor Kelly, Rhasidat Adeleke, Cillín Greene and Sharlene Mawdsley secured World Championships qualification with a polished performance to finish second in the first round at the World Relays in Guangzhou, China today.

Another superb last leg from Mawdsley carried them into the top-two automatic qualification spots for the final, with that ensuring their place in Tokyo, as they hit the line in 3:12.56, with USA taking a comfortable victory in 3:11.37 and Poland third with 3:12.70.

“I’m so happy with that,” said Mawdsley, who showed no ill effects from the hamstring injury sustained at the European Indoors in March. “I was actually quite happy I got the baton in third, I had something to work towards. Top two was auto Q and I ticked the box and I was put in such a great position. I was delighted to overtake on the bend and hold on to second.”

No such joy, however, for the women’s and men’s 4x400m teams, with the women finishing third in the first round in 3:30.06, their time not enough to secure a spot in the final, while the men finished sixth in 3:05.47.

Both teams will have another shot at World Championships qualification in the second round on Sunday, needing a top-two finish in their respective races, and the women will be expected to book their place in Tokyo, with Mawdsley and Adeleke due to be drafted in and bypassing the final of the mixed relay.

A top-14 finish at the event will secure any team their place in Tokyo.

Adeleke got off to a cautious start on the second leg of the mixed 4x400m before the Dubliner shifted through the gears over the latter half to haul the team up to second at halfway.

“I was making sure I put the team in the best position,” she said. “It’s definitely still early in the season for me, but I’m really excited to be here and we have our qualification for Tokyo –that’s what we came here for. I’m really proud of the team.”

She said that it’s “always an honour to represent team Ireland and putting on that vest just has so much to it,” adding: “I hope we can come back here tomorrow and do the same thing.”

Kelly led the team off with a solid opening leg, the 17-year-old undaunted on the senior global stage despite his youth. “It was a strong heat, having USA and Poland in the heat is not easy, so to go in and take it out is good,” he said.

Greene, an experienced member of the mixed relay team who lined up at the Tokyo Olympics four years ago, said: “I’m happy, it was my first race in a while, since indoors. We had a good holding camp in Hong Konga and it’s nice to get the qualification. Everybody went out and did their job – we couldn’t ask any more for the team.”

There were high hopes the women could also secure a spot in the final, freeing Adeleke and Mawdsley up to choose which medal they could target on Sunday, but after finishing behind South Africa and Germany the decision becomes an easy one for that duo – with Tokyo qualification the chief goal.

They will be part of the women’s quartet on Sunday, with no Irish athlete expected to double given the tight turnaround between races.

Sophie Becker led the women’s 4x400m team off with a superb opening leg, handing off at the front, with Lauren Cadden handing over to Rachel McCann and the highly experienced Phil Healy proving a safe pair of hands on the anchor leg, bringing them home third in 3:30.06, 1.4 seconds shy of the final.

“I’m happy with my leg,” said Becker. “But obviously we were hoping to get the big Q into the final, that didn’t happen, but there were some big teams and everyone is bringing their big players out. We’re into the repechage and I’m still very confident we’ll qualify for Tokyo.”

The men’s team was led off by Chris O’Donnell, who handed over to Callum Baird, with Marcus Lawler next up and then Jack Raftery bringing it home, the team clocking 3:05.47 in a race won by Botswana in 3:01.23.

“We know the men’s 4x4 probably has the most depth this weekend and we want to be amongst that now,” said O’Donnell. “We were sadly beaten there, but we’re not as far off as it looks, we can really make big improvements going into tomorrow and that’s the positive I would take. Even though we finished sixth, there’s a couple of seconds in there we can make up so we’re confident going into tomorrow.”

As Raftery put it: “Our mantra is to go again, get out there and have another go at it.”