Ireland secured their first European Athletics Championships gold medal since 1998 with a sensational victory in the 4x400m mixed relay in Rome.
The Irish quartet, consisting of Chris O’Donnell, Rhasidat Adeleke, Thomas Barr, and Sharlene Mawdsley, finished 0.77 seconds ahead of Italy. The Netherlands, led by the highly favored Femke Bol, had to settle for bronze.
Bol was left with too much ground to make up in the final leg, with the Dutch team finishing 0.81 seconds behind the Irish. Ireland’s quartet improved the national record by 1.61 seconds, a record they had set when they finished third behind the USA and the Netherlands at the World Relays in the Bahamas last month.
Mawdsley’s split time of 49.40 seconds was 0.13 seconds faster than Adeleke’s, with O’Donnell clocking 46.09 and 400m hurdler Barr producing an outstanding leg of 44.90.
The gold medal hopes were in the balance as anchor runner Mawdsley took the baton in second place behind Belgium. The Tipperary athlete moved into the lead with just over 100 meters left and powered clear to cross the line in three minutes and 9.92 seconds.
Legendary distance runner Sonia O’Sullivan was the only Irish athlete to have previously won European gold, achieving the 5,000m and 10,000m double in 1998 after winning the 3,000m title four years earlier.