Editorial: Irish women’s inspirational relay team can pass the baton to next generation

Sometimes they might, but sometimes it takes a superlative effort; such as Sharlene ­Mawdsley almost taking to the air in the “anchor leg” when securing silver for Ireland’s 4x400m women’s relay team.

The inspirational nature of their triumph and their elation can not fail to encourage a new generation of girls to tap into their own potential for greatness.

“I didn’t know if I was going to make that start line today, but the girls pushed me on, had every bit of trust in me, and when I know the team have that much trust in me, it’s just get that baton and run with what I have left,” a breathless Mawdsley said after the race.

It was a week which Rhasidat Adeleke is also unlikely to ever forget.

The 21-year-old has left the championships with three medals, adding to her women’s relay silver, a gold in the mixed 4x400m relay and her outstanding individual 400m silver from Monday night.

History is sometimes regarded sceptically having been so often recorded by dubious victors. But these athletes fully merit their own chapter.

Wednesday’s win has made it a record haul of four medals for Ireland – there was also Ciara Mageean’s 1500m gold. The trove surpasses the three won in Budapest back in 1998, which included two golds for Sonia O’Sullivan.

Of course it should be recognised that medals aren’t really minted from the metals in which they are cast. They are forged from the sacrifice, sweat and guts of those who go after them.

Time and again the winner is proven to be the one who mines the most out of themselves. No one exemplified this better than the 27-year-old Sophie Becker from Wexford.

“When I looked up and saw Sharlene neck and neck with Femke Bol, I just thought, ‘it’s actually happening, I cannot believe it’,” she said.

But as Joan Healy, older sister of Phil told RTÉ, these victories were far from an overnight success.

“These girls have worked so hard for so many years,” she said.

Three-time Olympic veteran Dick Hooper also put the performances into context while hinting that there could be many more glory days for this quartet still to come.

“They’ve been knocking on the door for quite a few years now... their time came last night to deliver that medal. It puts them up there on the pantheon of Irish sporting heroes,” he said.

One of the founding fathers of modern psychology, William James, once said: “Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they’ve got a second.”

No such concerns arise about this Irish team.

Their passion to excel has added an extra frisson of excitement to the already-pulsating prospect of the upcoming Olympics in Paris.