NEW LOOK MIXED RELAY TEAM 5TH IN EUROPE AS LAVIN SECURES SEMI-FINAL SPOT IN STYLE

Team Ireland got their 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships up and running in Apeldoorn this evening with the team of Conor Kelly, Phil Healy, Marcus Lawler, and Sharlene Mawdsley claiming fifth place in the final of the 4x400m mixed relay, while Olympian Sarah Lavin cruised to victory in her opening round of the 60m hurdles.

The new look relay team was led away by seventeen-year-old Conor Kelly who ran bravely on his senior debut to hit the break well in contention, before relinquishing positions ahead of the changeover to Phil Healy. Healy used all of her major championship experience to keep Ireland in touch before handing over to Marcus Lawler who looked to utilise his 200m speed to make up the ground on the leaders.

Sharlene Mawdsley once again ran an outstanding final leg, clocking the fastest 400 split (W) of 49.93 to lift Ireland to fifth place, but ultimately there was too much to do over the final 400m to reach the leaders and Ireland had to settle for fifth in 3:17.63.

Speaking after the race, Phil Healy said: “This track is tight, and the home straight is short, so you do have to run wide to pass. It’s the first time out as a mixed relay team at these championships, and while we’re all a little disappointed, we’ll learn from it”.

Mawdsley said: “I tried to close the gap on the first lap, and it was probably a bit ambitious. It’s the first time a mixed relay has run at these championships, and we can all be proud of being part of that. We’ve three athletes on the team today who weren’t on the mixed relay team in Rome last year, so it show’s there’s depth and we’ll take a lot from this”.

The mixed relay medals went the way of the Netherlands 3:15.63 CR, Belgium 3:16.19, and Great Britain & Ni 3:16.49.

Sarah Lavin looked ultra-composed in booking her place in tomorrow’s semi-final of the 60m hurdles. The Emerald AC athlete was businesslike in claiming first place in the fourth of this evening’s heats in a time of 7.93SB which ranked fourth fastest of those making it through to tomorrow’s semi-final.

Speaking after the race, Lavin said: “It was a good run. It’s testament to all the people around me as I hadn’t been feeling my best the last few weeks. Championships are where you want to bring out a performance, so to have a season’s best behind me is great and we’ll look forward to tomorrow”.

Lavin returns to the blocks tomorrow afternoon for the semi-final at 12.45pm Irish time, with a potential final awaiting late on Friday evening.

Cathal Doyle’s chances of progressing to tomorrow’s 1500m final suffered a fatal blow with a race-ending-bump in the final 500 meters seeing the Clonliffe athlete do well to remain on his feet as he lost all momentum. Doyle finished out his race in 9^th in 3:52.33.

Speaking after the race Doyle said: “I was in the mix in fourth or fifth place with 500 meters to go, and as I went to make a move, I got a bit of a shove which saw me loose all momentum. I tried staying on my feet and by the time I recovered the field was gone. We’ll review the race and see what comes from it”.

Friday promises to be a busy one for the Irish with Mark English and Cian McPhillips set to lead the way in the heats of the 800m tomorrow morning.

• Full results HERE

Team Ireland Schedule: Irish Time (Local time in brackets)

Morning Session – Friday March 7th

• Mark English – Men’s 800m – Round One – 10:05 (11:05)
• Cian McPhillips – Men’s 800m – Round One – 10:05 (11:05)
• Sharlene Mawdsley – Women’s 400m – Round One – 10:55 (11:55)
• Lauren Cadden – Women’s 400m – Round One – 10:55 (11:55)
• Sarah Lavin – Women’s 60m Hurdles – Semi-Final – 12:45 (13:45) *

Evening Session – Friday March 7th

• Sharlene Mawdsley – Women’s 400m – Semi-Final – 18:58 (19:58) *
• Lauren Cadden – Women’s 400m – Semi-Final – 18:58 (19:58) *
• Sarah Lavin – Women’s 60m Hurdles – Final – 20:43 (21:43) *

Morning Session – Saturday March 8th

• Sarah Healy – Women’s 3000m – Round One – 09:20 (10:20)
• Jodie McCann – Women’s 3000m – Round One – 09:20 (10:20)
• Bori Akinola – Men’s 60m – Round One – 11:00 (12:00)
• Andrew Coscoran – Men’s 3000m – Round One – 11:45 (12:45)
• James Gormley – Men’s 3000m – Round One – 11:45 (12:45)
• Orla Comerford – 60m Para Mixed Classification 12:17 (13:17)

Evening Session – Saturday March 8th

• Bori Akinola – Men’s 60m – Semi-Final – 18:10 (19:10) *
• Mark English – Men’s 800m – Semi-Final – 19:13 (20:13) *
• Cian McPhillips – Men’s 800m – Semi-Final – 19:13 (20:13) *
• Bori Akinola – Men’s 60m – Final – 20:40 (21:40) *
• Sharlene Mawdsley – Women’s 400m – Final – 20:50 (21:50) *
• Lauren Cadden – Women’s 400m – Final – 20:50 (21:50) *

Morning Session – Sunday March 9th

• Kate O’Connor – Women’s Pentathlon – 60m Hurdles – 08:00 (09:00)
• Kate O’Connor – Women’s Pentathlon – High Jump – 08:50 (09:50)
• Kate O’Connor – Women’s Pentathlon – Shot Put – 11:21 (12:21)

Evening Session – Sunday March 9th

• Kate O’Connor – Women’s Pentathlon – Long Jump – 14:10 (15:10)
• Andrew Coscoran – Men’s 3000m – Final – 15:50 (16:50) *
• James Gormley – Men’s 3000m – Final – 15:50 (16:50) *
• Mark English – Men’s 800m – Final – 16:27 (17:27) *
• Cian McPhillips – Men’s 800m – Final – 16:27 (17:27) *
• Sarah Healy – Women’s 3000m – Final – 16:36 (17:36) *
• Jodie McCann – Women’s 3000m – Final – 16:36 (17:36) *
• Kate O’Connor – Women’s Pentathlon – 800m – 17:03 (18:03)
• Women’s 4x400m Relay – Final – 17:50 (18:50)

*Subject to advancing

Where to watch

RTE SPORT will bring you comprehensive live coverage across the 4 days.

See RTE listings HERE.

European Athletics & RTE Player will also be live streaming all the action from Apeldoorn 2025 via their ‘EUROVISON’ platform HERE.

Athletics Ireland will be posting the latest updates and results across all of our social media channels throughout the week.