Rhasidat Adeleke and Sharlene Mawdsley prepare to lead a formidable 14-athlete contingent to the World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou, China, set for May 10–11.
With Olympic pedigree and European glory under their belts, the duo will be at the heart of Ireland’s bid to qualify three relay teams for the World Championships in Tokyo this September.
Ireland will compete in the women’s 4x400m, men’s 4x400m, and the increasingly popular mixed 4x400m relay. The top 14 nations in each event will secure a berth for Tokyo, raising the stakes for every baton exchange.
Rhasidat Adeleke’s participation is a significant boost to Ireland’s medal aspirations. After opting out of most of the indoor season, the 22-year-old sprint sensation recently launched her outdoor campaign in the United States with a 4x400m relay outing.
Adeleke brings elite-level experience and blistering speed to the track, most notably her jaw-dropping 48.45-second split at last year’s World Relays, which helped Ireland clinch a historic bronze in the mixed 4x400m. That performance, paired with her European gold in Rome and a fourth-place finish in the Olympic final, cements her status as one of Europe’s premier quarter-milers.
Adeleke is scheduled to fine-tune her form with an individual 200m race at the Tom Jones Memorial in Gainesville, Florida, before rejoining her Irish teammates. Among them is Olympic finalist Sharlene Mawdsley, who returns to full fitness after a hamstring injury that sidelined her from individual competition at the European Indoors. Despite the setback, Mawdsley delivered the fastest female split of the mixed 4x400m final in Apeldoorn—an electric 50.0 seconds that helped Ireland secure a podium finish.
Joining Adeleke and Mawdsley in the women’s 4x400m lineup are seasoned sprinters Sophie Becker and Phil Healy.
The men’s 4x400m squad features stalwarts like Chris O’Donnell and Cillín Greene—both integral to Ireland’s relay success over the past two years.
O’Donnell, a key figure in the European gold-winning mixed team, will race in both the mixed and men’s events, while Greene, a 2020 Tokyo Olympian, returns following his bronze-winning effort at last year’s World Relays in the Bahamas.
Athletics Ireland’s High Performance Sprints Lead, Christian Malcolm, expressed confidence in the squad’s ability to deliver on the world stage.
“Following a hugely successful 2024 for our relay teams, I’m pleased to see three teams selected for the World Athletics Relays which illustrates the terrific depth we currently have in Irish sprinting,” Malcolm stated as quoted by Irish independent.
“We look forward to travelling to Guangzhou as we attempt to seal qualification for the World Athletics Championships in September in Tokyo.”