Mawdsley looking to build on Euro final performance
By Thomas Conway
As Femke Bol swept away to secure the Netherlands the gold medal in Saturday’s European 4x400 metre women’s relay final in Munich, there was a distinct feeling that, however laudable Ireland’s performance might have been, however talented and excitable this quartet of Irish runners is, they are not quite there yet.
Newport’s Sharlene Mawdsley capped off a brave team performance along with Sophie Becker, Phil Healy and Rhasidat Adeleke, crossing the line 5.76 seconds after Bol, finishing sixth in time of 3:26.63, just 0.57 seconds off the national recorded the day previously in the heats.
Speaking to RTÉ’s David Gillick afterwards, the Sharlene reflected on her final leg with a clear sense of disappointment, but determination was also evident in her words. The 25-year-old felt she started to wilt on the final stretch, with the Germans fast on her tail. Improving that aspect of her running - elevating her endurance - will be the focus in UL this winter.
“Yeah, this time I wanted to go out hard again,” she began.
“I could see the other girls so far ahead and I was just trying to close, trying to close. But I know these girls are world class - Femke Bol was on that leg, Kaczmarek was on that leg. I gave it my best shot, but I was disappointed with my last fifty metres. I really wish I had held off that German girl, but I’m looking forward to going back into winter training with my coach Gary Ryan and hopefully for next season, that’s the bit I’m going to nail.”
To deliver two 3:26 runs back-to-back, on successive days, was an achievement in itself. It would have been enough to ensure that the Irish team progressed to the World Championship final in Oregon in mid-July. That, in itself, surely says something.
However, a consensus had emerged amongst the RTÉ studio analysts. Harsh as they might have sounded, Sonia O’Sullivan, Rob Heffernan, and Derval O’Rourke all concurred that this Irish women’s team is oozing with as yet unfulfilled potential. There were strategic mistakes in the lead-up to the race, they mused.
In future, Rhasidat Adeleke should only be deployed when the event reaches its crescendo, in the final. She has the power to supercharge an already swift unit, but the calibre of Irish 400 metre athletes is such that Adeleke should be used sparingly, when the time comes.
Furthermore, the other athletes should sacrifice their own individual events and focus exclusively on the relay - not an easy call to make, given that personal ambition is such a fundamental component of existence as a top-level athlete.
Mawdsley, whose formative years in athletics were spent under the tutelage of Fr. Bobby Fletcher, made no secret of what the Irish 4x400 metre relay team want to achieve in the years to come.
“I’m really proud of the girls,” she added.
“3:26 two days in a row, at like 10 o’clock at night. We’ll take it, but next time we’re going to be on that podium for sure.”