RHASIDAT ADELEKE RAN a blistering leg as Ireland’s mixed 4x400m relay team won their first major medal, taking bronze at the World Athletics Relays in the Bahamas overnight.

Adeleke’s split of 48.45 seconds was more than a second faster than any another female runner, and anchor Sharlene Mawdsley went toe-to-to with Dutch star Femke Bol down the stretch, as Ireland set a new national record for the second time in as many nights.

The quartet of Cillin Greene, Adeleke, Tom Barr, and Mawdsley clocked a brilliant 3:11.53 in third behind winners United States of America (3:10.73) and runners-up the Netherlands (3:11.45).

Greene’s strong opening leg had Ireland fourth after the opening 400m before Adeleke’s stunning run picked off both Lieke Klaver of the Netherlands and Nigeria’s Ella Onojuvwevwo to hand over to Barr in second.

Barr ran a strong 46.04 to keep Ireland in the silver medal place, fractionally ahead of Nigeria and the Netherlands, ahead of the final 400m.

Mawdsley and Bol were still stride-for-stride as they turned into the home straight before the Dutch runner edged in front to take silver by just eight-hundredths of a second.

“I’m very proud of this team and what we’ve built in the last couple of years,” Barr told Athletics Ireland afterwards. “We gave it absolutely everything we had today.

“We always punch above our weight. We all come together as a team.

“It’s a big win for us. First of all to get Olympic qualification but secondly to go home with a medal is something of dreams.”

After sealing Olympic qualification in both the mixed and women’s 4x400m with national records on Saturday night, Mawdsley said “we couldn’t have asked for much more today”.

Greene said it was “absolutely unbelievable” to leave the Bahamas with a medal.

“It’s the stuff of the dreams…I don’t think we expected it at all, we couldn’t be happier.”

Ireland finished seventh in Sunday’s final of the women’s 4x400m.

With just half an hour between the two finals, and Adeleke and Mawdsley unavailable, Phil Healy, Roisin Harrison, Lauren Cadden and Sophie Becker ran a time of 3:30.95.

USA took gold with a world leading 3:21.70 ahead of runners-up Poland (3:24.71) and Canada (3:25.17).

Written by Niall Kelly and posted on the42.ie