Sharlene Mawdsley claims ‘travel Gods hate me’ as Irish star details flight hell

SHARLENE MAWDSLEY was left stranded in Amsterdam following a series of events that had her convinced the “travel Gods hate me”.

The Tipperary runner was flying out from Dublin in the early hours of Monday morning.

However, her flight was delayed, leading to her missing her subsequent connection, leaving her in Amsterdam.

If that wasn’t enough, after she opted for a taxi to the hotel as opposed to the airport shuttle, she was left having to pay a hefty tab of “10 cent for every 2 seconds”.

On Tuesday, the 25-year-old was back on the road as she continued her arduous travels.

The next major port of call for Mawdsley will be the European Athletics Championships in Rome.

She is in line to race in the women’s 400m and 4x400m relay events, and will be joined by Rhasidat Adeleke, Sophie Becker, Roisin Harrison, and Phil Healy.

Mawdsley, Adeleke, Becker, and Healy will be carrying plenty of confidence into the Championships in Rome, knowing that the Paris Olympics are on the horizon.

The quartet was one of two Irish teams to have qualified for the Games through the World Relays in the Bahamas, as well as the mixed relay team.

Both teams broke national records in their heats

First, the mixed relay team of Cillin Greene, Rhasidat Adeleke, Thomas Barr, and Sharlene Mawdsley ran a 3:12.50 to win their heat.

The team continued that momentum in the final by winning bronzes medals.

Adeleke shone with a personal time of 48.45 while Greene (46.92), Barr (46.04) and Mawdsley (50.12) all made the country proud to secure a bronze medal.

Just 90 minutes later, Adeleke and Mawdsley were back on the track for the women’s relay event which, once again, ended in qualification.

The only change to the team that came fifth at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow was the Tallaght AC export, who filled in for Roisin Harrison.

Her Clonmel counterpart split under 51 seconds for the second time in the evening, while Adeleke was once again under 50 seconds.

Adeleke commented: “If anything I was feeling a little bit sleepy after being up so early this morning.

“Knowing that we could all qualify for the Olympics gives you enough energy to go out there and do your best.”

Mawdsley added: “We couldn’t have asked for much more.

“Two wins, two national records…what a dreamy night. I can’t put into words how much this means to us all.

“We ticked off all the checklist for today.”