World Championships: Ireland women's 4x400m relay team makes final in Budapest

BBC
·1 min read
Sharlene Mawdsley takes the baton from Kelly McGrory in the anchor leg of the women's 4x400m heat
Sharlene Mawdsley takes the baton from Kelly McGrory in the anchor leg of the women's 4x400m heat

Ireland women's 4x400m relay team has qualified for Sunday's final at the World Championships in Budapest.

Sophie Becker, Roisin Harrison, Kelly McGrory and Sharlene Mawdsley finished fourth in their heat in a season's best time of 3:26.18.

The USA team's disqualification pushed Ireland up as one of the two fastest non-automatic qualifiers.

"We'll look to come out and run fast again on Sunday and anything can happen," said Becker.

The team stayed within touching distance of qualification before Mawdsley ran a 50.01 anchor leg to secure a place in the medal decider, with Ireland's time just 0.12 off the national record.

"I'm speechless, to be so close to a national record is just amazing - we were realistically hoping for a low 3:27 so I'm so proud of all the girls," added Becker.

"The USA are out and who's to say what can happen in a world final. We're going to recover and come back to do it again. We love competing together and we'll give it our all for Ireland."