SHARLENE MAWDSLEY believes Rhasidat Adeleke’s presence at the World Relay Championships can help Ireland challenge for medals.
Mawdsley was part of the 4 x 400m team which came fifth at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow last month.
Mawdsley clocked the second-fastest split in the race, her performance and impressive reaction to missing out on the individual 400m final after a harsh disqualification.
The Tipperary athlete is currently on a training camp in Florida ahead of the world relays next weekend in the Bahamas, where Ireland will compete in both the women’s and mixed events.
And their team will be beefed up by the presence of Adeleke, who did not compete in Glasgow.
And Mawdsley said: “The addition of Rhasidat is obviously great, I think we’ve a really, really strong team, everyone is kicking on, so it’s great to have her.
“We’re at a stage where it’s not a case of, ‘guys, hopefully we can get into a final’, we’re going in being like, we need to get into this final challenging for medals, not just sitting at the back of the field.
“Having Rhasidat for that is a great bonus and it will be great to see what we can do now that we have her as well.”
Mawdsley is keen to get both teams qualified for the Olympics as quickly as possible rather than try to negotiate last-chance saloon in which scheduling would become difficult.
PARIS GAMES
The 25-year-old said: “Ideally on day one we’d be auto qualified which would mean we’d go straight to the final and not run the repechage rounds.
“That would be difficult because I think the rounds are only 35 minutes apart on day two so hopefully it’s not something we have to think about but it is at the back of your head as well.
“The plan is if we qualify for both, maybe we give everyone a run out between the women’s relay so we’d have options to change the team.
“But with the mixed you can only make one substitution so it’s a bit stressful if we do end up being in the repechage round but hopefully it’ll all be OK and we can secure qualification on day one.”
And there are further incentives beyond mere Olympic qualification at stake, with lane draws for Paris also at stake, with the mixed relay team also needing to book its place at the European Championships.
All of that is within Ireland’s grasp, a novelty for a small country for which being competitive in team events is a struggle.
Mawdsley said: “I think people are going to be going into this championships being like, ‘Ireland are a force to be reckoned with’ because we have stepped up at every major championships.
“I think teams are definitely watching out for us now.”
She is proud of her role in that, particularly as she helped the mixed team qualify for the last Olympics, but missed out on selection for the Tokyo Games itself.
And she is keen to see her individual times be as every bit as impressive as her split times in the relay.
She said: “When I was splitting really good times at the start I was like ‘Oh gosh, maybe that’s wrong’ and I was waiting to see if it was actually real.
“It’s great but you want to do that individually as well I want to run in the 50s this year, that’s what I’m capable of.
“If I said that a few years ago, I’d have said ‘No that’s not possible’. Now it’s just a matter of showing on the track.”