Spectacular start for Team Ireland as 4x400 team make World Finals, Mageean and Healy through to Semi-Final

Team Ireland have had a spectacular start on the first day of the World Athletics Championships in Budapest as the mixed 4x400m team of Jack Raftery, Sophie Becker, Christopher O’Donnell, and Sharlene Mawdsley secured their place in this evening’s final with a brilliant 3:13.90 season’s best.

Raftery lead the team out on the opening leg before smooth handovers to Becker and O’Donnell placed Ireland in 7^th position heading into the final leg. It was from there that Mawdsley produced the fastest last leg of the race to move Ireland from 7^th to 4^th which would ultimately see the team book their place in another major relay final as one of the fastest non-automatic qualifiers.

An absolute CRACKER of a run by Sharlene Mawdsley, moving the team from 7th to 4th. The determination to move her team to as highest a finishing place as possible to try & qualify for the final #Budapest #WorldChampionships pic.twitter.com/dDIiiVLxul

— Her Sport (@HerSportDotIE) August 19, 2023

It continues a remarkable run for the mixed relay team, who competed in the final at the World Championships in Oregon last year, as well as the Olympic final in Tokyo.

Speaking after the race Sharlene Mawdsley said: “It was a bit of a waiting game to see if we made it, but we’re through and that’s the most important thing. We all ran amazing legs and I’m really proud of us all as a team. We’re going to soak up being in the final this evening and we’ll give it our all again to go run faster and hopefully get close to the national record.”

The record stands at 3:12.88, set in Tokyo.

The team will return for the final later this evening, which is set for 8.49pm Irish time.

🗣️ “I love running for you guys…Another world final to look forward to, I think we’ve beaten the odds once again.”

A delighted Chris O’Donnell and Irish Mixed 4x400m Relay team speak after qualifying for tonight’s final at the World Championships in Budapest 🤩🙌🏻@Ask123ie… pic.twitter.com/KplS23DGGq

— Athletics Ireland (@irishathletics) August 19, 2023

Away from the exploits of the relay team, Ciara Mageean (City of Lisburn AC) and Sarah Healy (UCD AC) confidently progressed to the semi-final of the women’s 1500m in a field including world record holder Faith Kipyegon and 2019 champion Sifan Hassan. Healy was first to secure her qualification, crossing in 4:03.00 Q for 3^rd place in the second heat, while Mageean also crossed in 3^rd place in the final heat in 4:03.52 Q.

Sophie O’Sullivan (Ballymore Cobh) signed off her final international appearance of the summer with a five-second personal best of 4:02.15 pb, an Olympic-qualifying time, gaining some hugely valuable senior championship experience in the process. The European u23 gold medallist left everything out on the track to finish eight in a blisteringly fast heat, finishing just two places off qualifying for the next round at her first World Championships.

🗣️ “That’s as fast as I could’ve run, it’s the best shot I could’ve given myself.”

Sophie O’Sullivan speaks after clocking a HUGE personal best in the heats of the Women’s 1500m at the World Championships.

Unfortunately not good enough to advance to the semi-finals but moves… pic.twitter.com/Ci0C8gZ2kU

— Athletics Ireland (@irishathletics) August 19, 2023

Kate O’Connor (Dundalk St Gerards AC) opened her championships in stunning fashion in the women’s heptathlon, claiming a lifetime best in of 13.37 in the 100m hurdles. O’Connor followed up with a 1.80m season’s best clearance in the high jump, which was just one centimetre off her lifetime best. The Commonwealth Games silver medallist returns to action later this evening for the shot put (6.05pm) and 200m (7.30pm).

Day 1 Morning Results Summary