Mawdsley and Mixed Relay team miss out on Olympic final

The Irish Mixed 4x400m Relay team failed to advance to the final on day seven of the Olympic Games in Paris at the Stade de France on Friday evening.

Despite the best efforts of the quartet, which comprised of Christopher O’Donnell, Sophie Becker, Thomas Barr, and Sharlene Mawdsley, they fell just short of making the decider, placing tenth overall with a time of 3:12.67, outsode of their national record

Despite the disappointment, the Irish team were proud of their efforts: “We didn't run a bad race at all. It was our national record before this year and it looks like we just missed out. It was two places; it was very close. It's the first time we've missed in four years. On so many of those occasions we were on the other side of that, we just snuck in. To be fair we usually perform above our expectations, and today we probably finished where the paper suggested we should finish.” Christopher O’Donnell said.

Sophie Becker echoed those sentiments: “It's crazy to say we are a bit disappointed with that. But this team has been growing over the last three years, it has been harder to keep your place on the team. 400m running in Ireland is at a crazy level,” she said.

Thomas Barr, competing at his third Olympic Games, referenced that this may be his last time representing Ireland on this stage: “I was getting a small bit emotional alright, because it is setting in for me that it’s definitely my last Olympics, could be my last race, I’m not sure yet. I’ll take a step back and assess that. I’ve enjoyed the road so far and I’ve definitely enjoyed this experience as well.”

Mawdsley ran a 50.06s in the the anchor leg said: “It was difficult because I’ve not been in that position this year with such a big gap so it felt a bit like a solo run.

“It was really hard to judge my pace because I am really good at using other people in a relay and today I was out there on my own. I did really feel like I was closing down on the girls. It fell a little bit short but honestly the team had a great performance. We’re European champions at the end of this season so we’re walking away really happy.”

Mawdsley will return to the track on Monday morning alongside Becker and Rhasidat Adeleke for the heats of the women’s 400m.

“I definitely want to put in a really solid performance," added Mawdsley.

"I’ve lacked confidence a little bit throughout the season with the individual event so I’m just going to go out and leave everything on the track. I don’t want to look back and have any regrets from this championship and I don’t have any regrets from today.”