Gold. Chris O’Donnell, Rhasidat Adeleke, Thomas Barr and Sharlene Mawdsley. Champions of Europe in the mixed 4x400m relay. Their time, 3:09.92, has only ever been bettered five times in a mixed relay, young and all as the event may be.
Four of those times were to win world or Olympic titles. The fifth was to win a world silver medal. They’re in that conversation now, a team to be respected, maybe even feared.
This was a performance of rare quality, of class, composure and courage from all four athletes. If a team is only as strong as its weakest link, then this one was pretty damn unbreakable on the night, each of them exhausting every fibre of their being across three frantic minutes and four frantic laps at the Stadio Olimpico – the prize awaiting at the finish a feeling none has ever experienced.
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They had carried their country’s colours to gold on the senior stage, joining a pantheon of just 10 Irish medal winners in the history of this event, which now in its 26th edition, and joining Sonia – the greatest – as European champions.
“That has literally sent a shiver down my spine – it’s ridiculous,” said Barr when told of the company he’d joined. “We don’t come away with medals from a European Champs that often, never mind a gold. This is something really, really special.”
It was a sweltering Friday evening in the Italian capital and the Irish went to the line as strong medal contenders, though the Dutch were odds-on favourites, boasting as they did the lethal weapon that is Femke Bol on the anchor leg.
The Irish were led off by O’Donnell, the sole addition to the team from the line-up that finished third in the World Relays in The Bahamas last month, replacing Cillín Greene. The Sligo man ran a controlled opening half but utilised his typical late burst to come through strongly up the home straight, handing over to Adeleke in fourth after a split of 46.09.
The Tallaght sprinter was her brilliant, blazing self on the second leg, hoisting the Irish up to first after a 49.53-second split, but she paid a heavy price to do so, having gone to war with Dutch sprinter Lieke Klaver around the final bend to get to the front.
“At one point I was on the bend in lane three and I was like, ‘What is going on here, what am I doing out here?’” she laughed. “But people are going to race however they want to race and it’s about staying calm and being able to deliver at the same time. All I was focusing on was giving Tom the baton in first place.”
That she did, and Barr was soon overtaken down the back straight by Belgium’s Alexander Doom, the world indoor 400m champion. “I was secretly delighted when he came up on my shoulder because I love to chase and I was like, brilliant, I’ll tag on to him, keep the distance down the back straight and then try and kick for home.”
He handed over to Mawdsley a close second after a scintillating split of 44.90, with Italy in third and the Dutch, with Bol, about 10 metres back in fourth.
The Newport sprinter was foot-perfect on the final leg, coasting behind the Belgian anchor and saving all her energy for a superb home-stretch surge, when she powered away to victory. At the line, she raised her arms. Champions of Europe. Something that long seemed possible. Something that was now finally a reality.
They obliterated the national record they set last month to win bronze at the World Relays, clocking 3:09.92, just one second shy of the world record, coming home ahead of Italy (3:10.69) with the Netherlands third in 3:10.69.
Mawdsley clocked an astonishing 49.40 anchor leg, the second fastest of any female in the race behind Bol (49.21). As they grabbed the tricolours and headed out on their lap of honour, chants of Olé Olé Olé began to ring around the stadium.
And on Saturday afternoon, they’ll stand proudly for Amhrán na bhFiann. “Honestly, I cannot wait for that,” said Mawdsley. “It’s a dream come true. Crossing that line in first place, I honestly couldn’t believe it. I’m so proud of the team.”
Adeleke said she was “so grateful” to be part of the team, but the gold didn’t come as a shock to her. “Honestly I definitely thought we had that potential, we’ve always brought our A-game to major championship finals, and coming off the World Relays I knew we’d be able to go faster.”
O’Donnell was overcome with joy at the achievement. “We all dream to be a European champion, and to be here, standing with these guys, is just unbelievable,” he said. “We’re really going to enjoy this moment, it doesn’t happy every day. I’m so proud of the whole team, and a shout out to the fans.”
Each of the four has individual events to come in the days ahead, but Barr looked further down the line, to the Paris Olympics, where a medal could well be on the cards if Ireland has a full-strength line-up – though that’s no guarantee given individual commitments in the days after the mixed relay.
“This is huge, it gives us huge confidence and we’ve huge depth in the pool,” said Barr. “It might not be the four of us going to Paris but it’s nice to have that depth and it makes us a marked team, which can add that little bit of pressure. But because Paris is not that far away, we’re riding that wave. This is a huge stepping stone towards bigger things.”
Elsewhere on the night, Israel Olatunde produced a season’s best of 10.31 (0.8m/s) to advance to tonight’s 100m semi-finals. “I feel good, I just wanted to come out here, give a good performance and get through,” he said. “I’m getting better race by race and I’m excited for the semi-finals.”
Jodie McCann produced a fine run in the women’s 5000m to finish 17th in a PB of 15:29.25. Earlier in the day, Ciara Mageean and Sarah Healy coasted into tomorrow night’s 1500m final, finishing third and fourth respectively in their heats.
Today’s Sports News in 90 Seconds – 7th June
Irish in action, Saturday (all times Irish)
10:45: Chris O’Donnell, men’s 400m heats
17:00: Oisin Lane, men’s 20km race walk
19:12: Sarah Lavin, women’s 100m hurdles semi-final
20:10: Israel Olatunde, men’s 100m semi-final
21:08: *Sarah Lavin, women’s 100m hurdles final
21:28: Brian Fay, men’s 5000m
21:53: *Israel Olatunde, men’s 100m final
*pending qualification
Live: RTÉ Two, BBC Red Button, Eurovisionsport.com