Rhasidat Adeleke and Sharlene Mawdsley play starring roles as Ireland qualify for World Championships on the double
With two out of three missions accomplished, there were plenty of smiles and high fives among the Irish teams competing at the World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou,
China
. Still, there was a nagging sense of what might have been.
The event was primarily about qualification for the World Championships in Tokyo in September. Guangzhou presented two opportunities on that front.
The Irish mixed 4x400m quartet were first to book their Tokyo ticket after nailing the runner-up spot in Saturday's first qualification round, before the women's 4x400m joined them on Sunday by winning their second qualification round.
Rhasidat Adeleke
and
Sharlene Mawdsley
played an instrumental role in both teams, proving once again just how indispensable they are to Irish relay prospects right now. Running the second and anchor legs respectively, they clearly made the difference. Mawdsley produced the fastest split in their second qualification round of the women's 4x400m with her 50.01 seconds.
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Ireland won in 3:24.69 ahead of Australia (3:27.31) and Switzerland (3:32.37). Adeleke clocked 50.38, with Sophie Becker taking the first leg (51.41) and Rachel McCann the third (52.89).
The men's 4x400m were also in Guangzhou chasing Tokyo qualification. However, after finishing sixth in their first-round heat on Saturday, they also fell short with their second chance on Sunday. The quartet of Conor Kelly, Cillín Greene, Chris O'Donnell and Jack Raftery finished eighth in the latter run.
Adeleke was satisfied with her trip to China: 'I think we have solidified ourselves as one of the best relays in the world and we're just continuing that on,' the 22-year-old said after the women's 4x400m. 'We're building, especially me. I'm building every race and getting back into shape and I'm really excited to see what this season holds for all of us, individually and as a team.'
Sharlene Mawdsley produced the fastest split in the second qualification round of the women's 4x400m. Photograph: Tocko Mackic/Inpho
On Saturday, Adeleke and Mawdsley focused on the mixed 4x400m heat. Adeleke raced a little more conservatively than usual, but their second-place finish – Mawdsley kicking past Poland's former European champion Justyna Swiety-Ersetic on the last leg – earned them Tokyo qualification and a place in Sunday's final.
'I was actually quite happy I got the baton in third, I had something to work towards,' Mawdsley said after that race. 'Top two was auto Q and I ticked the box and I was put in such a great position. I was delighted to overtake on the bend and hold on to second.'
The top 14 teams across all events booked their places in Tokyo. This was broken down to the eight finalists plus the top three from the two heats in the second qualifying round.
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Sam Mulroy's storybook second half sees Louth win Leinster for the first time since 1957
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]
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Ireland's relay stars part of an 'overnight' success story stretching back to Ronnie Delany in the 1950s
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]
With the Irish mixed quartet already assured of their Tokyo place, Adeleke and Mawdsley came into the women's 4x400m to boost their qualification prospects.
In their absence, Ireland started with a weakened team for Sunday's final of the mixed 4x400m relay. The quartet of Raftery, Phil Healy, Aaron Keane and Lauren Cadden finished eighth of the eight finalists, clocking 3:19.64. USA won gold in a World Relays championship record of 3:09.54.
Raftery was back on the track an hour after running the men's 4x400m second round heat, but he still managed an impressive split of 45.89 seconds. Healy briefly moved the team up to sixth, but Keane (46.97) and Cadden (53.16) lost some ground on the closing two legs.
Ireland's Rachel McCann, Sophie Becker, Sharlene Mawdsley and Rhasidat Adeleke finished ahead of Australia and Switzerland in the second qualifying round at the World Athletics Relays. Photograph: Tocko Mackic/Inpho
Had either Adeleke or Mawdsley been able to focus on that final, there was clear potential for a medal. The Irish record of 3:09.92, clocked when winning European gold in Rome last June, would have been good enough for silver here.
The girls put me in a great position and I love to chase
—
Sharlene Mawdsley
At last year's event in the Bahamas, the mixed quartet that included Adeleke and Mawdsley won bronze, where Adeleke's split time of 48.45 seconds was the fastest ever recorded at the World Relays.
Ireland also just missed an Olympic bronze medal in Paris, clocking 3:19.90 when finishing fourth in the women's 4x400m. That sort of time would easily have won the gold medal here, with Spain the surprise winners in 3:24.14 ahead of the USA (3:24.72).
After a rainy night on Saturday, conditions inside the Guangdong Stadium were more favourable on Sunday. Mawdsley hadn't raced since sustaining a hamstring injury during the European Indoors back in March.
'The girls put me in a great position and I love to chase,' Mawdsley said after the women's 4x400m, where she passed Australia's Alanah Yukich in the last 150m. 'It's all about learning and looking forward to the rest of the summer.'
Tokyo will be a different prospect in both the mixed and women's 4x400m, but the two Irish teams will be there. Mission accomplished.
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An All Star nomination came on the back of a career that was three games old, none of them in the league or provincial championship. It must be a record. 'The stars aligned a little bit in terms of getting your chance and going in,' he says now, upon being reminded of the decade anniversary. 'I suppose I stepped up and took it too. It seems like only yesterday really. When I look at the whole 11 seasons, it feels like one big blur. READ MORE 'It just goes so fast. Something that I always say is if you have a season where you get knocked out of the round robin series, you lose a lot those years because you're only playing five championship games and the whole thing is over. You feel like you never really got started at all. 'I've been fortunate with injury, I've only missed one game – against Westmeath in 2022 and I could probably have played if I really needed to push my body. It's been a journey, definitely. Lots of ups and downs.' Conor Whelan of Galway in action during the Allianz Hurling League game between Galway and Clare in February. Photograph: James Lawlor/Inpho And plenty more to come, most likely. According to the numbers put together by hurling's great annals-keeper Leo McGeough, Whelan has played 57 championship games for Galway. Of the current crop, all the players who have more than him – two Burkes, two Mannions and Conor Cooney – are all over 30. Whelan won't be 29 until October. But if it all ended tomorrow, he'd leave a hefty footprint behind him. He is the fourth-highest scorer in Galway's history, with 16 goals and 129 points to his name. That 177 total means he is behind only Cathal Mannion (8-171, or 195), Cooney (14-199, or 241) and the unreachable Joe Canning (27-486, or 567). The difference with Whelan is that every one of his scores has come from play. He has scored in 50 of his 57 games, has scored twice or more in 42 of them. 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So there's 950 of those registered with the GPA. 'I kind of came up with this concept of administrative intervention where you pair the student athlete with a mentor. My PhD is out of ATU Galway. There were 13 elite student athletes there and I paired them each with an alumnus in the college. So not somebody that was their lecturer and not somebody that was from their sporting environment. Somebody that they didn't know. 'They were to meet every two weeks and just plan out their time for the student athlete. They set goals, both sporting, academic and personally. They were also there for social supports – any issues that come up around assignments, conflict between lectures and training and so on. 'We're all aware of the mental health issues in Ireland and we're all aware of the challenges that student athletes face. But you have to design something that's realistic and something that you think students could utilise. The feedback I got from the 13 student athletes was that, yeah, there's someone there and to be honest, I didn't meet them every week. But if I needed them, he was there.' Whelan's day job is in occupational health and wellbeing with the Castle construction group. His PhD was always going to delve into some aspect of mental health: ever since his cousin, the Galway defender Niall Donohue, died by suicide in 2013, Whelan has continually immersed himself in that world. All going well, his PhD will form a template for the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) and other organisations to use to help student athletes manage their mental health and wellbeing from here on out. Galway captain David Burke, Kilbeacanty chairman Justin Fahy, Shane Donohue, brother of the late Niall Donohue, Galway hurler Conor Whelan, cousin of Niall, and Niall's father, Francis Donohue. Photograph: Joe O'Shaughnessy 'Initially, I kind of just wanted to understand it better. I suppose after my cousin had passed away, I was kind of pushed into that space a little bit and I was like, 'If I'm going to be in this space, I want to really understand it and be able to offer actual tangible advice rather than just regurgitate other stuff you read.' '[Niall's death] is definitely a factor. I've been fortunate enough that I have also done a masters in psychology. I have been very interested in alcohol and addiction and spent some time volunteering in Cuan Mhuire [rehabilitation organisation] for six or seven months. I've always been interested in that concept of mental health and how far out it goes, what it delves into and all the different strands that affect it. 'And yeah, obviously Niall would be a factor in that. Unfortunately, he experienced acute mental illness. I suppose as a direct consequence of that, my view on mental health is that it's not as abstract as people sometimes make it sound. There's always factors in the background that can influence it. 'When you think of mental illness, you always think of acute mental illness, which probably makes up for about 15 per cent of the population. But there's so many other variances within that 85 per cent.' As for his own head, one of the ways he clears it is by travelling. Generally with friends but sometimes on his own, Whelan makes a point of getting away as much as he can in the off-season. Asia, Australia, South and Central America. Purposeful wandering, off the grid where possible. 'I suppose a couple of different things appeal about it,' he says. 'I really enjoy the whole thing of just working hard and doing your turn, your graft, back here and then taking a few months and heading off at the end of it and seeing the place. Just going away and getting a fresh perspective. I find sometimes that you go away too and you have a lot of appreciation for the life that you're coming back to and the things you have in your life. 'And being off the grid – I can remember being on the east coast of America with one of my best friends and you're travelling for five hours on a Greyhound bus and you've no signal or anything. You're not getting emails about work or anything like that. When you're there, you're there. 'That is definitely, in the modern world, one of the things I love the most about it. Just being completely there. Like, I don't buy a Sim card in a new country. If I happen to go to a place that has wifi, great. And if I don't, fine. I'm just here. 'Every day I was over in Japan, I was just literally heading off and my sole objective was, 'I'm going to go here today. I have no idea where I'm going but I'm going to just explore this place and see what's the crack with it.' And you're just going out and you're literally people-watching in a cafe. You're watching people go to their normal work dressed as full anime characters or whatever.' He doesn't train when he goes away. He doesn't bring a hurley. He might get a run in somewhere but it won't bother him if he doesn't. He gets on a flight and leaves his life behind, the better to see what he can see. 'It's really interesting from a mental health point of view to go to these places and see how they approach things. Places like Japan and South Korea have massive challenges around mental health. I couldn't get over how much time they spend on their phones. 'In Japan, they have a suicide forest down around Mount Fuji that's very famous. I was in South Korea and they have a really terrible work-life balance there. Just being in these countries shapes your perspective and changes it.' Conor Whelan of Galway in action in the Leinster SHC game between Galway and Antrim at Pearse Stadium on May 17th. Photograph: James Lawlor/Inpho And when he comes back, he's a hurler again. He's Conor Whelan, Galway's best and most reliable forward. Micheál Donoghue used 40 players in the 2025 league campaign – only Tom Monaghan and Cianan Fahy played more minutes than Whelan. He's carried his bat through the Leinster championship too – only getting a rest for the last half-hour against Antrim when Galway were well out the gap. 'It's been very enjoyable. Micheál brings such positivity to the group and, in fairness, he's given everyone a chance. He played 40 players in the league and I think he's up around 30 in the championship as well. 'I've been part of groups before that have had that idea starting out but once you lose one or two games, have reverted to type. But he hasn't done that. It's really good to see young lads coming through and getting their chance.' He would know. Not many have made better of it. If you are affected by any of the issues in this piece, please contact The Samaritans at 116 123 or email jo@
