Bandon's Phil Healy only Cork athlete selected to participate in the World Athletics Relays

Athletics Ireland has selected an eleven strong team including Cork's Phil Healy for the upcoming World Athletics Relays which take place in Nassau, the Bahamas on Saturday, May 4th and Sunday, May 5th.

An Irish Mixed 4x400m and Women’s 4x400m team will take to the track at the Thomas Robinson Stadium aiming to secure all-important qualification for the Olympic Games that take place in Paris in just over one hundred days.

The top fourteen teams in each event qualify for the Olympics.

Rhasidat Adeleke (Tallaght AC) will be part of both Mixed and Women’s teams. 

The 21-year-old Dubliner had a memorable 2023 outdoor season culminating in a fourth place finish in the final of the 400m at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest last August.

Sharlene Mawdsley (Newport AC) is another athlete who will be hoping to make a positive impact on both team’s quest for Olympic qualification. Mawdsley anchored the Mixed and Women’s relay teams in Budapest last summer and more recently was part of the Women’s team that finished fifth in the final of the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow in March.

Thomas Barr (Ferrybank AC) clocked the fastest 400m time by an Irish man indoors this year, with his 46.88 effort achieved at the Track and Field Live Meeting in Abbotstown in early February. The hurdles specialist will hope to produce another stellar relay performance in Nassau.

Cillin Greene (Galway City Harriers), Jack Raftery (Donore Harriers) and Christopher O’Donnell (North Sligo AC) are also all travelling and will be vying for a spot on the team.

Phil Healy (Bandon AC), Sophie Becker (Raheny Shamrock AC) and Roisin Harrison (Emerald AC) were all part of the Women’s relay that finished fifth in Glasgow and all three are included in both squads.

Christian Malcolm, Athletics Ireland Performance Sprints Lead commented, on the selection:

“We go into this championships with real momentum, and a consistent track record of performance delivery from this group of athletes at global championships, with 5th at this year’s World Indoors, 6th and 8th at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest last year and other strong results stretching back to 2021 World Relays. 

"It’s the key Olympic qualifier for relays, so competition for a place in Paris will be intense, but we feel this squad is well placed to progress.”