Daily Times

An inspired Irish quartet led by Rhasidat Adeleke outstripped Femke Bol’s favoured Dutch team to snatch gold in a thrilling 4x400m mixed relay at the European championships on Friday.

The Irish four, also featuring Christopher O’Donnell, Thomas Barr and Sharlene Mawdsley, clocked a championship record of 3min 09.92sec, just ahead of silver medal winners Italy, in a show of Olympic intent just 49 days out from the Paris Games.

It was Ireland’s first European gold medal in 26 years, since Sonia O’Sullivan’s 5-10,000m double in Budapest.

Bol, looking to repeat her triple gold showing from the last Euros in Munich in 2022, was left with too much to do on the anchor leg, albeit doing exceptionally well to make up a full 30 metres in a last-lap 49.21sec to snatch bronze. “I was able to catch up to the three leading runners because today was a relay race, I did not run for myself, but I ran for my country,” said Bol. Bol will now turn her attention to her speciality, the 400m hurdles — in which she is world champion, and then the women’s 4x400m relay. “I did not try to save energy for the next races, you simply cannot do that when you run a relay,” the Dutchwoman said.