When in Rome, carpe diem. That seemed to be the guiding thought for Sharlene Mawdsley even though the last thing she was expected to do after waking up here on Tuesday morning was to return to the old Stadio Olimpico for another 400m race, let alone one of major consequence.
Yet here she appeared for her fourth 400m race in five days – one that offered the possibility of reaching her third European Championship final of this already long and crazy week.
On Monday night, just 12 hours earlier, Mawdsley had run in the individual European 400m final, where she, by her own admission, “lost the head” and finished eighth, running 51.59 seconds, some distance outside her best.
Still, Mawdsley had already built a mighty reputation for her superpowers of recovery, and, although originally named as first reserve for the heats of the women’s 4x400m relay, she found herself called in as a late replacement for Kelly McGrory, who pulled up with an injury during the warm-up.
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Well, now she can say: veni, vidi, vici.
Because as if on cue, Mawdsley produced another stunning anchor leg – just as she’d done when bringing Ireland home to the mixed relay gold last Friday night – and helped ensure Ireland qualified for Wednesday night’s final (8.05pm Irish time) as the fastest of the lot. Their 3:24.81 is just shy of the 3:24.38 Irish record from the World Relays in the Bahamas last month, when they also had Rhasidat Adeleke on board.
“Honestly, today I just felt I had to step up, last minute,” said Mawdsley, the 25-year-old from Newport in Co Tipperary. “But that what subs are for, and again I just ran the inside line and didn’t panic, stayed relaxed and composed, and everything worked out in our favour. I felt very comfortable, and here we are back in another European final.”
Once she was satisied she had suitably recovered (and she reckoned she’d gone out too fast on Monday), Mawdsley timed this run to absolute perfection as she took Ireland from fourth to first on her anchor leg. She clocked another searing split of 49.76 seconds, ridiculously fast given her circumstances, and the fastest of the two semi-finals.
With that Ireland took the clear win, their 3:24.81 ahead of France (3:25.15) and Belgium (3:25.16), with only those top three sure of progressing, along with the two fastest non-automatic times.
Only 1.18 seconds separated the eight qualified teams for the final, and it is fully expected that Adeleke will take her place among Ireland’s final quartet, which will also be her third European final, having also being part of that mixed relay gold.
Mawdsley said she had got about four hours sleep before Tuesday’s exploit, and that was perfectly understandable, given that 400m final on Monday night proved one of the most exciting in European athletics history. Adeleke ran the fastest 400m of her life, the 21-year-old clocking 49.07 to win silver behind Natalia Kaczmarek from Poland, who ran 48.98. Those are the two fastest European women’s 400m times this century.
Despite her own exertions from that epic race, Mawdsley put herself on the line again, joining Sophie Becker, Phil Healy and Lauren Cadden in the second semi-final.
Becker opened with a 51.64, holding second behind Belgium, with Healy then coming through with a 51.29. Cadden held her position in fourth, running 52.12, as Belgium appeared to open a clear gap. But then came Mawdsley with her 49.76, racing through on the inside down the home stretch.
Poland won the first semi-final in 3:25.59. They will probably have Kaczmarek for their final quartet, the 26-year-old notably bypassing the mixed relay to ensure her best effort was reserved for that individual final showdown against Adeleke.
The Dutch women qualified in third, and are also likely to be bolstered for the final, with their superstar Femke Bol likely to join their quartet. She did run the mixed relay and came through for bronze. What’s more, it’s possible that Lieke Klaver, who won bronze in that 400m final in 50.08, will join them again too.
All that will make for a very different sort of race than the semi-finals. Still, Adeleke will relish one last lap of the Stadio Olimpico, where despite smashing her previous Irish record of 49.20, she had to bow to the slight superiority of Kaczmarek, who took half a second of her own lifetime best and broke through the 49-second barrier for the first time, winning in a sensational 48.98 seconds.
Adeleke’s 49.07 would have won her gold in five of the last six Olympics, with only the Tokyo winning time of 48.48 faster.
And with her 48.98, Kaczmarek also broke the late Irena Szewinska’s legendary Polish record of 49.28, which had stood since 1976. Szewinska famously won three Olympic golds, two silvers and two bronzes, and remains the only athlete in history to hold world records for 100m, 200m and 400m.
Earlier, the Irish men’s 4x400m briefly held a qualifying spot after their semi-final, the quartet of Jack Raftery, Chris O’Donnell, 17-year-old Seán Doggett and Callum Baird coming fifth in 3:04.01, a season best, behind Britain’s winning time of 3:01.69.
The second semi-final was marginally faster, and the two non-automatic qualifying positions went to Germany (3:01.44) and Spain (3:01.45), with Ireland ending up 10th best overall. Doggett wrote his own bit of history as the youngest Irish male athlete to earn a senior international cap.
In the first of the men’s 4x100m semi-finals, the Irish quartet of Bori Akinola, Mark Smyth, Colin Doyle and Israel Olatunde combined to finish seventh in a season best of 39.34, Germany taking the win in 38.53.
That means Ireland’s only remaining relay interest is in the women’s 4x400m final, where another thrilling race lies in store.
Carpe diem.
