Irish 400m runner Sharlene Mawdsley has defended her team-mate Rhasidat Adeleke's decision to miss the upcoming World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, insisting that Adeleke has to put herself first.
Last month Adeleke revealed she will not compete in Tokyo by announcing that her 2025 season is over after recent unspecified injury setbacks.
Adeleke's decision to withdraw from came as a blow to Team Ireland's medal hopes, especially for the 4x400m women's relay team which came agonisingly close to the podium at the Paris Olympics, and the 4x400m mixed relay team, who won the inaugural European gold with Adeleke last year.
The 22-year-old had qualified for the World Championships in both the 200m and 400m but had struggled to replicate the form of previous seasons over the course of the summer.
Adeleke's announcement led to speculation surrounding her decision, most notably from Sonia O’Sullivan, who claimed that the Irish runner was "not being entirely open or honest", and that she had made "bad decisions" this year.
The Dublin runner's coach Edrick Floreal addressed O’Sullivan’s comments, reiterating that Adeleke is unable to compete due to injury and now her team-mate Mawdsley has backed her.
"It’s always different when we don’t have Rhasidat, she’s such a vital part of the team," said Mawdsley.
"We’ve won the European gold mixed relay with here, we came second at the European Championships last year, of course we’re going to miss her, but she has to look out for herself and that’s the most important thing.
"Sport can be so hard at the top, it’s really difficult and she has to put herself first.
"Obviously it’s really disappointing we don’t have Rhasidat, we have some major medals collected with her, but I think Rhasidat needed to put herself first this year.
"No-one knows what goes on behind the scenes with any athlete so we all respect her decision. Of course we’re going to go out there and put our best foot forward and hopefully we can qualify for some major finals."
Adeleke was part of the Ireland team in May’s World Relay Championships that secured qualification for both the mixed and women’s 4x400m teams in Tokyo, and Mawdsley confirmed that she will compete in both events at the World Championships.
"I’m going to do them all," she said. "I’ll be running the mixed relay, the individual 400m and I’ll be running the women’s relay at the end of the Championship.
"I really do love the relays, they set me up, having the mixed relay before my individual. I obviously haven’t raced 400m in quite some time, so getting to do that will be really important before my individual.
"The preparations are going good. I haven’t raced over 400m in a little bit but I’ve been getting the work in behind the scenes and that’s the most important part.
"I’m looking forward to Tokyo and for the season to be over as well to take a break. Obviously my plans didn’t go exactly how they were meant to this year but I’m still in one piece, the body is feeling good, I’m feeling healthy and that’s the main thing."
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