Irish women fastest in 4x400m heat, while men fall short of the mark

IRELAND’s women’s team have made it through to the 4x400m final at the European Athletics Championships, while the men’s team misses out.

At Rome’s Olympia Stadium on Tuesday morning, individual 400m silver medallist, Rhasidat Adeleke was rested after her gruelling schedule since helping Ireland secure gold in Friday night’s 4x400m Mixed Relay.

The four women to start were Sophie Becker, Sarah Healy, Lauren Cadden and Sharlene Mawdsley, who finished eighth in Monday night’s individual final.

Running in the second heat of the day, a storming final leg from Mawdsley drove the team to victory. The Irish women would set the fastest time of both heats, finishing in a time of 3:24.81.

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They will go on to contest the final at 8:05pm, Irish time, on Wednesday night.

In the men’s heat, the starters were Jack Raftery, Chris O’Donnell, Sean Doggett and Callum Baird.

Despite an impressive last leg from young Ballymena & Antrim runner Baird, the team finished fifth in the heat.

As the team raced the first heat of the day, there were hopes for qualification with a fastest time. However, a quicker second heat put the men’s team into 11th overall and bumped them out of contention for the final.