LOOKING BACK, Sharlene Mawdsley is convinced her father’s spirit guided her back to the track in the weeks after his passing.
She has just settled into her off-season break on the day that we speak, but in June, she wasn’t thinking about athletics. She had withdrawn from racing. She was, understandably, prioritising family over sport with no real headspace available to contemplate the rest of her season in athletics.
And then a call came. Her Ireland teammate Sophie Becker was unavailable to compete at the European Team Championships in Slovenia due to injury. Mawdsley had previously forfeited her lane in the women’s 400m. But now there was a way back for her. Something intervened to reopen the door. Or someone.
After a chat about the offer, her mother, Louise, nudged her to lace up the spikes.
“You’re going,” she told her daughter. “You have to do it.”
And then Mawdsley ran a season’s best time of 50.93 to finish third in the women’s 400m and put Ireland in the hunt for promotion to the first division. She carried on, and won the 400m at the Morton Games as well as the 200m gold at the National Athletics Championships.
And then the World Championships in Tokyo came into view, something which Mawdsley had already qualified for. A force was coming from somewhere to lead her back to the Irish singlet.
“I don’t know how,” says Mawdsley, reflecting on that season’s best performance at the European Team Championships. “I think it was just adrenaline.
“That was maybe my Dad’s sign to make sure that I am going to continue with the season.
“It was always going to be really hard to race in Ireland. The reason I was racing there in the first place was because both of my parents were going to get to go and my family. So that was probably the hardest one for me to do this year.”
The days are rarely the same when living through a bereavement. It’s the same for Mawdsley and her family. Some days are ok. Others are bad. Running turned out to be a distraction for her while trying to cope with all the emotions that were coming up to greet her each day.
But when someone who has become a famous athlete is trying to grieve privately, another challenge presents itself. The news was quickly being circulated after the sudden death of her father Thomas. In response, she posted a message on her Instagram account, requesting privacy while also paying tribute to her Dad. It wasn’t something she wanted to do at such a difficult time, but she felt she needed to act to protect her family.
“I did find that hard because it was out in the media before I could even tell some of my friends. And that was really hard for my family as well. You just want privacy in that time. It’s not something that you want to share with people, and especially so soon.
“So, I did find that really difficult. But it was more, I wanted to protect my family from that. I guess, at the end of the day, you put yourself out there and people do want to follow your life. Generally, it was really positive. I had so much support.
“I was really blessed in that way that people were so supportive.”
Transitioning from last season to this season was challenging for Mawdsley. She came down with a bout of the post Olympics Blues after a brilliant debut in Paris which almost yielded a medal for her in the women’s 4x400m relay. It’s a common ailment for athletes.
How does one return to normal living after experiencing something like an Olympics? The enormity of it can be overwhelming.
Sophie Becker, Phil Healy, Rhasidat Adeleke and Sharlene Mawdsley after finishing fourth in the final of the women’s 4x400m relay Olympic final. Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
And for Mawdsley, the Paris Olympics came on the back of a brilliant 2024 season where she won a bronze medal at the World Relay Championships, followed by a European Championships which ended in gold [4x400m mixed relay] and silver [4x400m women’s relay] success.
“That’s nearly everything that I had ever dreamed of, to win medals and to also go to the Olympics,” Mawdsley says.
“So, I found it like quite difficult when I came back to navigate what I wanted to do.”
Mawdsley missed out on the Tokyo Olympics but she was firmly involved in Ireland’s track output at the World Championships, featuring in the individual 400m event as well as the mixed and women’s relay teams.
The relay outfits fell short of a place in the final but she did manage to reach the semi-finals of the 400m. That was the target she set for herself and she celebrated accordingly. RTÉ even captured the moment she knew her qualification was assured.
“I did believe that I was in semi-final shape. I honestly knew I wasn’t going to be in final shape. The 400 metres has just taken [off to] a whole new level right now.
“It was more of a relief than anything.”
Mawdsley finished fourth in her heat in 51.04 and clocked 51.22 to take eighth in her semi-final to give her a 20th place finish overall. The numbers are a reflection of where she was at giving what she has been through. But there’s more in the tank.
“We knew earlier in the year that I was in really good shape. So we just kind of keep going back to that point of, ‘If I hadn’t had an interrupted season that we know I would have ran really fast.’
“We’re going into next season knowing that if I just do the work that I’ve done last year, it is going to pay off eventually. And hopefully there’s no disturbances in that period of time.
“It wasn’t that I underperformed. It was just genuinely where I was at. It’s not that we were happy, but we also weren’t disappointed.”
Earlier this year, Mawdsley ran the 400m and 200m at the Grand Slam Track athletics series in Philadelphia. Four-time Olympic champion Michael Johnson launched the series as a direct challenge to the Diamond League but it abruptly ended due to financial difficulties.
Ireland’s Andrew Coscoran also competed in Philadelphia and featured again when the series was in Miami. He won over $50,000 in prize money, and says he’s confident that he will receive those earnings. Mawdsley enjoyed the experience but is less encouraged about the $15,000 she is due for coming sixth in the long sprints category.
“I don’t have any animosity towards Michael Johnson. He didn’t go into this thinking that it was going to go bankrupt. He tried to do better for the sport. Obviously, it would be nicer to have that money in my back pocket. But I’m glad that I got to experience it nonetheless. And I know it’s not a personal thing. I am one of many athletes who haven’t been paid.
It’s break time now for Mawdsley. She has five or six weeks of rest to look forward to before the work resumes at the end of October. Switching off is something that comes easily to her. There’ll be no itch to pound out a few kilometres or hop on the bike for a spin class.
Michael Breen and Sharlene Mawdsley after Tipperary’s win over Cork in the All-Ireland SHC final. Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
Not even another race around Thurles could tempt her. The Olympian was videoed running on the street in the hours after her native Tipperary won the All-Ireland hurling title. Her boyfriend, and now three-time All-Ireland winner, Michael Breen tried to discourage her but she had been challenged. She had to set some people straight.
”I guess someone saying I bet I’m faster than you. One thing led to another.
“When you’re drinking, you think you’re invincible. I was wearing sandals and I remember Mikey being like, ‘You’re not doing it.’ And I was like, ‘Yes, I am.’”
Her dog Lola is her primary form of exercise for now. Being a parent isn’t easy and the daily walks can’t be ignored.
“I’m more so doing that for her than for me,” she says.
It’s been a difficult year for Mawdsley. But something is telling her to keep going.
Irish Athlete Sharlene Mawdsley and Zambrero Ireland are inviting runners across the country to join the first-ever Plate4Plate Zam Run, taking place nationwide this weekend from 25 September to 28 September.
Each kilometre tracked will equal a meal donated to Rise Against Hunger.
