{"id":11212,"date":"2025-08-20T09:03:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T09:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/11212\/"},"modified":"2025-08-20T09:03:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T09:03:09","slug":"what-do-irelands-medal-prospects-look-like-at-the-world-athletics-championships-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/11212\/","title":{"rendered":"What do Ireland\u2019s medal prospects look like at the World Athletics Championships? \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The resounding message after the Irish women\u2019s 4x400m relay finished fourth in the Paris Olympics<\/a> last summer \u2013 just .18 of a second off bronze, remember \u2013 was how this upward trajectory was likely to continue.<\/p>\n

At least until the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, when if everything went to plan they might just make it on to the medal podium.<\/p>\n

After that quartet comfortably qualified for Tokyo at the World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou, China, at the start of May, a similar sense of confidence prevailed, and the hopes of a medal too. <\/p>\n

Sport Ireland<\/a> had also given substantial backing to the project, with Sharlene Mawdsley<\/a> and Sophie Becker<\/a> joining Rhasidat Adeleke<\/a> on the maximum grant amount of \u20ac40,000, with Chris O\u2019Donnell<\/a> also boosted to this podium level of funding for his role in the mixed 4x400m relay.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we have solidified ourselves as one of the best relays in the world, and we\u2019re just continuing that on,\u201d Adeleke said in Guangzhou. \u201cI\u2019m building every race and getting back into shape and I\u2019m really excited to see what this season holds for all of us, individually and as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite her genuine relay enthusiasm, Adeleke was always going to prioritise her individual 400m interests, having also finished fourth in her individual event in Tokyo, and at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest. Now those interests have ended for 2025, Adeleke calling time of her season<\/a> after \u201clingering injuries and continuous setbacks\u201d left her unable to train and perform at her desired level.<\/p>\n

With that she also leaves a big hole to be filled in the women\u2019s 4x400m relay, which after Adeleke\u2019s individual medal hopes, was arguably the best chance of an Irish medal in Tokyo.<\/p>\n

Mawdsley and Becker have been performing well on an individual front, but are so far off their best times of 50.71 and 51.13 respectively, both clocked last season, compared to 50.93 and 51.69 in 2025. Phil Healy, the third member of the 4x400m quartet in Paris, has a best of 54.58 this season, compared to her lifetime best of 51.50.<\/p>\n

Although getting to the final in Tokyo is not beyond their abilities, the lack of progress or further depth this season won\u2019t make that task any easier. <\/p>\n

\"Ireland'sIreland’s 4x400m relay team: Sophie Becker, Phil Healy, Rhasidat Adeleke and Sharlene Mawdsley. Photograph: Morgan Treacy\/Inpho <\/p>\n

The mixed 4x400m relay, which also qualified for Tokyo via Guangzhou, didn\u2019t progress beyond the heats in Paris. Jack Raftery has definitely added depth there, running 44.98 seconds last month, although O\u2019Donnell hasn\u2019t broken 46 seconds this year, and is only ranked sixth-fastest Irishman this so far season.<\/p>\n

Mawdsley also qualified for the individual 400m for Tokyo, among the 17 remaining Irish athletes currently with individual qualifying standards, or currently sitting within the qualification quota. This Sunday marks the closing date for performances to be included in the qualification process, after which World Athletics will announce the final list of invited athletes.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0What\u2019s behind Rhasidat Adeleke\u2019s withdrawal from the World Championships?Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

European Indoor 3,000m champion Sarah Healy<\/a> has the qualifying standard in the 1,500m, and is currently leading the Diamond League standings going into the final in Zurich on Wednesday week. Her lifetime best of 3:57.15, clocked this season, ranks her 13th fastest in the world this year, and her first goal in Tokyo will be to make the final, which is certainly within her reach.<\/p>\n

At the Diamond League in Silesia, Poland, last Saturday, Healy had to settle for ninth, clocking 3:57.95, underlining her consistency, but a reminder nonetheless of just how competitive things will be in Tokyo. \u201cIt was an okay day for me,\u201d Healy said, \u201cnot amazing, not too bad\u201d.<\/p>\n

Sophie O\u2019Sullivan<\/a> also has the individual 1,500m qualifying time, but has missed several weeks of training due to a stress reaction in her leg, and certainly won\u2019t be at her race fittest in time for Tokyo.<\/p>\n

\"MarkMark English is in the form of his life. Photograph: Attila Kisbenedek\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Mark English<\/a> is in the form of his life, the 32-year-old last week breaking his own Irish 800m record for the third time this season when clocking 1:43.37 to finish second at the Gyulai Istv\u00e1n Memorial in Budapest.<\/p>\n

English had clocked 1:44.34 in Poland in May and then 1:43.92 in Hengelo, the Netherlands, in June, and looks capable of making the final in Tokyo if he can maintain this level of consistency.<\/p>\n

Kate O\u2019Connor<\/a> is currently ranked fifth in the world after her heptathlon Irish record of 6,487 when striking gold at the World University Games last month, and the 24-year-old is improving with every competition.<\/p>\n

In the absence of Adeleke, she might also represent Ireland\u2019s best hope of getting close to the medal podium in Tokyo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The resounding message after the Irish women\u2019s 4x400m relay finished fourth in the Paris Olympics last summer \u2013…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11213,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[10885,18,19,17,10889,10888,8302,10886,10883,10884,10887,132,9715],"class_list":{"0":"post-11212","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-chris-o-donnell","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-kate-o-connor","13":"tag-mark-english","14":"tag-rhasidat-adeleke","15":"tag-sarah-healy","16":"tag-sharlene-mawdsley","17":"tag-sophie-becker","18":"tag-sophie-o-sullivan","19":"tag-sports","20":"tag-world-athletics-championships"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11212\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}