'I thought I was going to pass out' - heartbreak for Irish relay team in Tokyo

LAST UPDATE | 16 hrs ago

Updated at 12.51

THERE WAS HEARTBREAK for Team Ireland at the World Athletics Championships overnight in Tokyo, Japan.

A huge disappointment for the Mixed 4x400m relay team was the standout event after the success and progress in this discipline in recent years. With Sharlene Mawdsley running the final leg, they finished sixth and failed to make the final.

Mawdsley was left with a lot of work to do in the closing leg and just could not close the gap.

“I haven’t ran it for quite some time, so it was good to get it into my legs today,” she said afterwards.

“Obviously, it was very hard. I thought I was going to pass out afterwards.

“But it was a learning experience. I guess you can’t have an off-day in the World Championships, and that’s clearly what we had.

“It’s our own fault; we made mistakes in the race.”

Jack Raftery said, “We are collectively disappointed. We set such high standards for ourselves last year, winning in Rome, winning in Paris, that we expect to be in the final every time we come to a big championships.”

Sophie Becker was similarly crestfallen, though she was trying to take the positives of the extra recovery before her individual event the following day.

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“I was thinking and hoping that we would be doing the same again in a few hours for the final, but it wasn’t to be,” she said.

Conor Kelly of Finn Valley AC was making his world championships debut and said afterwards, “Yeah, it’s been good. Or it’s not been good. Today was not a good day, but that’s how it goes.”

Meanwhile, there was some better fortune for Irish athletes in the 1500m heats.

Sophie O’Sullivan finished sixth in Heat 3 to secure her spot in the semi-finals. The Ballymore Cobh AC runner registered a season’s best time of 4:02.12.

Sarah Healy came third in heat four to progress comfortably to tomorrow’s semi-finals. The UCD AC athlete produced a controlled and confident run and was rewarded with a time of 4:02.67.

Speaking after the race, a delighted Healy told RTÉ Sport:

“Just so relieved to get through safely. This Championship, I knew I’d be disappointed not to but I’m relieved. There’s so many Irish here in Tokyo, it’s crazy. I’ve been training really well in the last two weeks so I just knew I was ready. I watched Sophie qualify right before and the way she turns up to Championships is pretty inspiring.

“She really laid it out, and I was like, ‘I’m going to get through as well.’”

O’Sullivan fell over the line to ensure she progressed. She referenced her injury frustrations this season and said she was confident she could race well if she could get to the start line.

“It was all about maintaining on the cross-trainer and it’s nice to see the work paid off. I felt pretty good so the last 100m, I wanted to give it a real crack. and make sure I know I’ve given it everything.

“Took a little bit of a dive. A little bit of a cut here,” she added pointing to the marks on her leg.

Laura Nicholson finished 13th in Heat 1 with a time of 4:14.12.

The Bandon AC star consequently missed out on a place in the semis, as only the top six advance.

Earlier today, Oisin Lane of Mullingar Harriers placed 28th in the final of the Men’s 35km Race Walk.

In serious heat, Lane suffered throughout and said afterwards, “The last 10km, I was just trying to finish. I wasn’t thinking about positions or anything like that. So very tough, the humidity out there.”

Asked about his strategy, he answered, “The race strategy was to go out relatively easy, just at tour pace. At that, I felt I was moving nicely, and at around 25km, I felt everything blew up at once.”

Elsewhere, there was further disappointment for Eric Favors, who competed in the Men’s Shot Put but failed to qualify out of Group A.

“Kinda upset, not gonna lie. Really haven’t had much of a chance to process everything. My preparation, everything felt fine, but I just couldn’t do it on the day,” after he threw a top distance of 19.19.

Additional reporting by Paul Fennessy and Sinéad Farrell