Irish athletics history was made last night as the 4x400m mixed relay team of Chris O’Donnell, Thomas Barr, Rhasidat Adeleke and Sharlene Mawdsley won gold at the European Championships in Rome.
Flanked by really impressive legs from Adeleke and then Mawdsley in the final leg, the team also broke the Championship record with a time of 3:09.92. It was only the fourth gold medal Ireland have ever had at the European Championships and first gold since 1998.
It was a momentous occasion which was captured perfectly by the RTÉ’s Greg Allen. The commentator gave a great performance on the race, showcasing his vast knowledge of the event while also still giving the victory the gravitas and passion it deserved. As Sharlene Mawdsley breaks away in the last 100m Allen drops a great line when he says “Just hold your nerve…she’s is holding her nerve.”
This was in stark contrast to the BBC coverage of the event. This wasn’t the regular BBC coverage as it was from the world feed and so it wasn’t their own commentator. However the world feed commentator spent most of the time talking about other competitors who weren’t in the lead instead of the Irish team. When Adeleke was neck and neck with the Dutch and Italian runner during the second leg, the world feed commentator failed to mention Adeleke until she was already breaking away around 100m from handing the baton to Thomas Barr.
The commentator also spent most of the last leg talking about Femke Bol and the Netherlands team. The Netherlands were one of the favourites to win but by the time Bol received the baton for the final leg she was always far behind Mawdsley and didn’t look like winning. It really was a great run from Mawdsley and deserved more credit than what the BBC World Service gave.
Watch the world commentary feed here.
The 4x400m women’s team are in with a shot at medal at the European Championships on Sunday as well as Adeleke and Mawdsley in the individual 400m. This win now sets Ireland mixed relay team up perfectly for the Olympics in Paris later this summer. They’re hitting form at the right time and this team fails to disappoint. Let’s hope they can make even more history in July.
