Sharlene Mawdsley recovered from her run in Monday night's 400m final to brilliantly lead Ireland into the final of the 4x400m relay at the European Athletics Championships in Rome.
Mawdsley already has a gold to her name having been part of the triumphant mixed 4x400m relay team last Friday night.
Due to be rested on Tuesday, once Kelly McGrory picked up a niggle this morning, Mawdsley dusted herself down and again anchored a fine effort as Ireland's excellent championships continued.
Sharlene Mawdsley produces relay heroics again as Ireland win their 4x400m women's heat! ☘️
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) June 11, 2024
Sophie Becker, Phil Healy and Lauren Cadden set the Tipp athlete up for another grandstand finish.#Roma2024
📺Watch now on @RTE2 & @RTEplayer pic.twitter.com/9G7yFTTBCp
The experienced Sophie Becker led the team out, handing to Phil Healy with Ireland in third place.
Healy consolidated that position, with Lauren Cadden - making her major championship debut - hanging tough to stay in the top four. That allowed the imperious Mawdsley to chase down the top three before gliding to the front inside the last 50 metres, winning the race ahead of France, Belgium, Spain and Italy.
Ireland's time of 3:24.81 saw them qualify fastest for Wednesday's final, with Mawdsley's 49.76 split even more impressive when you consider her exertions in the individual final.
The final takes place on Wednesday night at 8.06pm Irish time.
Earlier, there was disappointment for the men's 4x400m team of Jack Raftery, Chris O'Donnell, Sean Doggett and Callum Baird who missed out on a place in the final after a spirited showing.
O'Donnell - who was also part of the gold-winning mixed relay team last Friday - drove Ireland into contention with a very strong run on the second leg. He passed the baton to 17-year-old Doggett, who was making his senior international debut. He also became the youngest ever Irish athlete to participate in a senior European Championships.
Disappointment for the men's 4x400m team of Jack Raftery, Chris O'Donnell, debutant Sean Doggett and Callum Baird, but they took plenty of positives from their performance #RTEsport pic.twitter.com/fkfzWB0T4T
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) June 11, 2024
Requiring a top-three finish to seal automatic qualification, and a top-five finish to have any hope of progression as one of the non-automatic qualifiers, Baird squeezed into fifth with a duck on the line.
It kept their chances alive, but a very fast second heat bumped Ireland out of contention - though Poland's later disqualification for a lane infringement meant Ireland finished 10th overall.
There was no joy either for the men's 4x100m relay team who came home seventh in their heat.
Bori Akinola, Mark Smyth, Colin Doyle and Israel Olatunde did manage to achieve a season’s best time of 39.34, however it was not enough to make the final.
Ireland's exploits in Rome have captured the imagination of the public, with a peak audience of 568,000 watching Rhasidat Adeleke win silver in last night's thrilling 400m final on RTÉ 2, and an average audience of 324,000.
Anika Thompson and Laura Mooney produced gritty Irish performances in a stacked women's 10,000m final.
Both Thompson and Mooney, who are still U23, found themselves in the second of the chasing packs over the opening 5000m, before and injection of pace saw the Irish pair drift back through the field.
Thompson crossed the line in 20th place with a time of 33:19.42, with Mooney 26th in 34:03.94.
The home crowd were treated to another Italian gold medal, with Nadia Battocletti setting a new national record of 30:51.32, with Diane Van Es of the Netherlands taking silver and Great Britain’s Megan Keith third.
Watch the final day of the European Athletics Championships on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.
