Sharlene Mawdsley surge not enough on disappointing day for Ireland at World Relays
Ireland's Sophie Becker and Sharlene Mawdsley at the World Relays in Botswana. Pic: ©INPHO
There was disappointment for the Irish on day one of the World Athletics Relays in Gaborone, Botswana as all three teams came up short of reaching their respective finals and securing qualification for next year’s World Championships.
A blazing final leg of 49.09 seconds from Sharlene Mawdsley wasn’t enough to help the mixed 4x400m team into Sunday’s final, the Irish finishing fourth in round one in a swift 3:12.05 – a race won by the US in 3:09.82 ahead of Spain (3:09.89) and Australia (3:10.57).
The Irish were led off by Jack Raftery, who split 45.72 and handed over to fellow Olympian Sophie Becker, who split 50.90. Rising star Seán Doggett ran the third leg in 46.35, with Mawdsley detached from the top three when taking the baton for the anchor leg. The Tipperary sprinter clawed back a huge chunk of the deficit, but it wasn’t enough to advance.
They would have qualified for next year’s World Championships in Beijing by advancing to the final, where six spots were also on offer for this year’s World Ultimate Championship in Budapest. However, their chance of making Beijing is still alive, with four qualifying spots available in Sunday afternoon’s repechage.
“We’re disappointed, we’ve high standards, but we’ll go again tomorrow,” said Becker. “The first relay run is always a bit rusty no matter how much we practise. Nothing is the same as actually racing so getting a race into our legs again is huge.”
“I’m actually happy with that,” added Mawdsley. “We were a second and a half faster than [the World Championships in] Tokyo and we’re in May, and I think that’s really promising.”
Raftery said they “expect to make finals” but had “a decent run overall,” adding, “there’s a lot more out there.”
There was frustration for the Irish women’s 4x100m team of Molly Scott, Ciara Neville, Mollie O’Reilly and Sarah Leahy, which failed to finish after a botched exchange between O’Reilly and Leahy. They will have a chance to redeem things in Sunday’s repechage.
“That wasn’t what we wanted,” said Neville. “We really worked hard and we wanted to show that, so we’re looking forward to coming back tomorrow, giving it our best and putting it together.”
The Irish women’s 4x400m team of Rachel McCann, Jenna Breen, Molly Daly and Arlene Crossan turned in a strong run to finish fourth in round one in 3:29.93, coming up short of qualification for Sunday’s final. But they will be back in action in the repechage, where four spots are still available at next year’s World Championships.
“It was a class experience,” said McCann. “I pushed it on as best I could and all three girls had fantastic legs. It’s such a different team to what we’re used to and it’s good to see we can run sub-3:30.”
Daly’s participation created a small piece of history for Irish athletics, marking the first time ever that three generations of the same family have been capped for Ireland. It was a proud day for the 18-year-old Kilkenny athlete whose father, Rob, was capped 13 times at senior level, most notably when helping Ireland to World Indoor 4x400m bronze medals in 2004.
Her mother, Fiona, was also a 400m specialist who was capped twice in 1996 while Molly’s grandfather, Robert Norwood, represented Ireland over 400m in an international match in West Germany in 1974.
“It’s so cool to be out here and running at senior level,” said Daly. “I’m soaking in this amazing experience and looking forward to the future.”
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