Mawdsley takes experience from European bow

By Shane Brophy

The European Indoor Championships proved to be a valuable learning experience for Newport Athletic Clubs Sharlene Mawdsley.

The 22-year-old ran in the 400 metres in Torun, Poland, last Friday where she finished fifth in her heat, in a time of 53.68 seconds, just shy of her personal best of 53.56 seconds, which she ran in the national micro-meet last month.

“Considering I was in late 2, I knew it wasn’t a favourable lane so to run 53.6 from lane 2 I am happy enough,” Sharlene said, speaking to RTE’s David Gillick.

The time wasn’t enough to see her progress to the semi-finals as a fastest loser as she admitted she was nervous beforehand, competing in her first major adult championships.

“I will definitely take the experience from it,” Sharlene added.

“I was so nervous in the warm-up area, seeing my rivals warm up as well, people I really look up to so it was a really good learning experience for me.

“The plan was to go through it in my race pace but I got a little bit of a shock were everyone starting coming up the home straight beside me but I’m glad I put myself in contention at the start of the race, it’s definitely something I wanted to prove that I could do so I am happy.”

Sharlene, who is trained by Kilcommon native and Olympian Gary Ryan, will now turn her attention to the outdoor season and looking to get inside the top 56 400 metre runners in the world which would see her qualify for the Olympic Games in Tokyo this summer.