Ireland relay quartet express their emotions after just missing out on Olympic glory
"Someone has to be fourth, it's us today. It won't be us next time. We've shown we're world class"
Sharlene Mawdsley saw the greatest birthday present she could have wished for snatched away in her final strides down the Stade de France track.
Like Rhasidat Adeleke in the individual 400m final on Friday night, the ecstatic promise of an Olympic medal turned to unbearable agony in mere moments for the Irish women's 4x400m relay team of Mawdsley, Sophie Becker, Phil Healy and Adeleke.
They smashed the national record in a time of 3:19.90 in the last track final of these unforgettable Games. That would have been enough for silver in every Olympic final, except for 1988. Around them, however, their rivals were also pushing themselves to new heights. In the shake-up, the Irish team were the first not to medal in the event after breaking 3:20.
READ MORE: Rhadisat Adeleke opens up on heartbreak of Olympic 400m finish
READ MORE: Gold medal hero Rhys McClenaghan on his sure-sighted mentality
The USA quartet streaked away to claim gold. Mawdsley, running the anchor leg, held second place until the ultra-talented Femke Bol raced past for silver - as she did when the Dutch beat Ireland to the gold in this summer's European Championships.
GB's Amber Anning, who was fifth in the individual final just behind Adeleke, moved past Mawdsley and dug in for bronze. The Newport runner was devastated, crying as she took the blame on her shoulders for that final leg as the wait for an Ireland track medal in the Games, stretching back 24 years, goes on.
"Honestly I don't have much words, it hurts so much," Mawdsley said. "If we had come sixth it would have probably been less hard, but we wanted that medal so bad. I feel that I fell short because you run the last leg, and there's been so many days when I've been placed for my last leg but today it just didn't go my way and that's how the game goes.
"I'm sure I ran fast but it just wasn't enough. It's heartbreaking, but if you'd told us last year that we'd come fourth at the Olympics, I wouldn't have believed anyone. So yeah, it's rough, but that's how sport goes."
Becker ran a 50.90 first lap - exactly as she had done in the semi-final - but the final was much faster from the off and the Wexford runner handed over the baton to Adeleke in sixth place.
Ireland had qualified seventh fastest without Adeleke but the presence of the Dubliner elevated their ambition and the 21-year-old didn't disappoint, striding into second place with a 48.92 split before transferring to Healy.
The Cork athlete held off the chasing pack in a time of 50.94 - Mawdsley took the baton in second place, but it was not to be despite running a final 49.14 split. "Each of the girls performed phenomenally," said Healy. "Sharlene, I know she is hard on herself but it was probably her fastest ever and it is her birthday.
"To come away at an Olympic final on your birthday..it's female sprinting on a whole other level. To be in there with world-class athletes is where we belong. Everyone performed out of their skin today. To shatter that record, it shows that we did perform out of our skin."
Becker said: "In the next few days it won't hurt as much. Someone has to be fourth, it's us today. It won't be us next time. We've shown we're world class.
"I'm so proud of us, we literally left it all on the track. I don't think 3.19 was ever on the cards and now that we've run it, why can't we go faster?".
Adeleke rebounded after her individual disappointment to run a storming leg but, just as in last year's World Championship final and in the Olympic final, found herself staring at the scoreboard in disbelief again.
All of it is fuel for what is to come on an individual level, but also with this relay team. "I’m just as hungry as ever," she said. "There's just always more to do and I’m just going to get down to the nitty-gritty things that I need to improve my performances.
"I’m just really grateful to be able to move on, to my team and everyone who’s supported me and the girls here. Honestly, I feel mixed emotions. I'm really, really proud of the team for us to even be in an Olympic final and to come fourth.
"It's obviously the worst place to come. It's just so close to a medal. If you had told us last year that we'd be coming fourth, we'd be so delighted. But it's because we're here now, and we're such competitors, and we know we have so much to give - but that was an amazing performance.
"I'm so proud of them, so proud of us even being here at this point. I think we're really going to be a threat in years to come."
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