NEWPORT’S fleet-footed Sharlene Mawdsley ran the last leg in Ireland’s magnificent silver medal performance in the 4x400m relay at the European Championships in Rome.
The Ireland quartet of Mawdsley, Sophie Beckett, Rhasidat Adeleke, and Phil Healy also set a new national record of 3 minutes, 22.71 seconds.
Netherlands claimed gold, with Poland as bronze medalists.
For a moment or two it looked as if Mawdsley had a chance of overtaking 400m hurdles gold medalist Femke Bol, but the Dutch were not be denied.
“It’s amazing, I’m absolutely beyond exhausted at this point,” the Newport, County Tipperary, woman said afterwards in an interview with RTÉ Sport.
“I was telling myself the whole warm-up that it was just one more lap, but the girls got me through that run.
“I could hear the girls cheering and I thought maybe I had Femke down the home straight, but the legs were a little bit dead today.”
Earlier at the Championships, Mawdsley, Adeleke, Thomas Barr, and Chris O’Donnell clinched Ireland’s first gold medal since Sonia O’Sullivan in 1998 with a superb victory in the 4x400m mixed relay.
