Mawdsley is set to be Tipp’s latest Olympian
By Shane Brophy
Sharlene Mawdsley is on the verge of being an Olympian after she helped the Irish 4x400 Mixed Relay team qualify for the Olympic Games.
The 22-year-old Newport Athletic Club sprinter ran the third leg in their semi-final at the World Relay Championships in Silesia, Poland on Saturday night, culminating in a national record time of 3.16.84 seconds, which saw them finish in third place to qualify for the final, and with it qualification for the Olympic Games in Tokyo this summer.
“It genuinely means the world to me,” Mawdsley said of her achievement.
Sharlene teamed up with Chris O’Donnell who ran the first leg before passing the baton off to Phil Healy who sent Ireland into the lead by the time she handed over to Sharlene who ran a superb leg in 51.86 seconds to hand over still in the lead to Thomas Barr with the Waterford man eventually finishing in third place, but enough to see Ireland qualify for the event which will be run for the first time in the Olympics this year.
“I have been training really hard for the last six weeks with my coach and my training partners,” Sharlene added.
“My teammates really made me believe in myself today so once Phil handed over the baton on first place I gave it everything I possibly could, and we qualified for the Olympic Games,” she said excitedly.
While the Ireland Mixed Relay team for the Olympic Games could be changed depending on form in the coming weeks, barring injury, Mawdsley’s performance last Saturday should be enough to see her retain her place on the plane to the Land of the Rising Sun in late July.
In the subsequent World Championship final on Sunday evening, a changed Ireland line-up which saw Andrew Mellon come in for the injured Thomas Barr, finished seventh in 3.20.26, four seconds slower than their semi-final time, which would have been enough for a silver medal if repeated.
With a ticket to the Olympics all but assured, Sharlene Mawdsley, who is trained by former Olympic sprinter Gary Ryan from Kilcommon, can now concentrate over the next seven weeks on qualifying individually for the Olympics and achieving the qualification time of 51.35 seconds. Considering the time she ran in her semi-final is well inside her personal best of 52.89 (although not classed as such because the relay is a running start), she can take a lot of confidence into the outdoor season as she chases another Olympic qualifying time.
If she does compete in Tokyo, she would join an illustrious list of Olympians from the Premier County, including gold medal winner in the 400m hurdles from 1932, Nenagh’s Bob Tisdall.