Sharlene Mawdsley opens up on emotional Olympics interview
The Tipperary sprinter fought back tears as she spoke to RTE's David Gillick after the race
Sharlene Mawdsley has opened up on her emotional Olympics interview following the women's 4x400m relay final.
The Tipperary sprinter fought back tears as she spoke to RTE's David Gillick after the race as Ireland narrowly missed out on a medal.
Mawdsley, Sophie Becker, Phil Healy and Rhasidat Adeleke smashed the national record in a time of 3:19.90 in the last track final of the Paris Games, which would have been enough for silver in every Olympic final, except for 1988.
READ MORE:Ireland relay quartet express their emotions after just missing out on Olympic glory
However, they narrowly missed out as Femke Bol raced past to claim silver for the Netherlands as America won gold, while Team GB's Amber Anning dug in for bronze, leaving Mawdsley heartbroken.
Explaining her emotional interview, she told the The 2 Johnnies podcast: "You're the last leg runner and you're in the position, now I didn't know until I watched it back I thought I was in second, but we've all gotten the baton at the same time.
"So when I looked back on it I was like 'not the end of the world' because it does take four people and not just me but at that time I thought that's my fault that we came from second to fourth but we'd actually all gotten the baton at the same time which eased me a little bit.
"I had started crying on the track and then we went over and said thanks to the Irish fans for coming and I had seen my parents and I was like bawling. Then my Mum was like 'you ran a 49.14' so that was the fastest I'd ever ran.
"But she could've told me I ran a world record and it still wouldn't have made a difference because I was so upset.
"And so we went up to the interview and I was last because we go in order so it was Sophie [Becker], Rhasidat [Adeleke] and Phil [Healy]. So the girls were of course already upset and I was bawling and I was like 'no I'll be ready now'.
"But as soon as David asked me a question I was gone.
"At the time I was so embarrassed but looking back it's good for people to see we don't just go training everyday for no reason. But to be honest I had no idea that we'll be in that position I genuinely thought we'd be at the back fighting for sixth or seventh."
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