Ireland women’s relay team booked their place at the Tokyo World Athletics Championships later this year after taking charge on Sunday.
After the mixed 4x400m quartet booked their passage on Saturday, the women’s team beat Australia to claim victory as they aim to build on their recent success.
Winners of the silver medal at the European Championships last year, Sophie Becker, Lauren Cadden, Rachel McCann and Phil Healy ran the 11th fastest time on Saturday, meaning they needed to rely on Sunday to ensure their qualification.
Rhasidat Adeleke and Sharlene Mawdsley were added to the team in favour of McCann and Healy. It proved fruitful to beat the Australian team by just under three seconds.
Speaking after the race, Becker couldn’t hide her relief at qualification, and the team can now look towards the summer. She said: “I’m so relieved, I think I speak for all of us when I say that.
“It was a great box to tick getting the mixed qualified yesterday, and now to come out here and get the second team qualified for Tokyo is such a relief. We’re all really excited to see what the summer brings now”.
The hugely talented Adeleke added: “We’ve solidified ourselves as one of the best relays in the world and we’re just continuing that on.
“We’ll get more opportunities to compete and I’m really excited to see what we can do at the World Championships now that we’re qualified.”
Conor Kelly, Adeleke, Cillin Greene, Mawdsley finished second in their qualifying behind the US in the mixed category with the fourth fastest time across three heats. They are the current bronze medal holders after their success last year.
It was a different story for the men’s team who failed to secure their qualification. A team of Conor Kelly, Cillin Greene, Chris O’Donnell and Jack Raftery finished seventh in their heat on Sunday.
The Tokyo World Championships commence on September 13 and will run until September 21.
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