The mixed 4x400m relay team of Chris O'Donnell, Rhasidat Adeleke, Thomas Barr & Sharlene Mawdsley produced a magnificent performance to win gold for Ireland at the European Athletics Championships on Friday night.
In the end, the Irish team came home in time of 3:09.92, a championship record for what was a fabulous success.
North Sligo athlete O'Donnell kicked things off and was fourth in 46.09 when handing over to Adeleke, who clocked a super 49.53 second split, before handing to Barr in first.
The Waterford man posted a lung-busting 44.90 and in second place when passing the baton to Mawdsley (49.40) who bided her time before hitting the front coming down the last 100m.
Ireland finished ahead of Italy (3:10.69) with the Netherlands third in 3:10.69.
Naturally, the Irish team were in jubilant mood when they spoke to RTÉ Sport after their success.
"Unbelievable, everything we've dreamed of," said O'Donnell, who wasn't showing any pre-race nerves.
"When I started going into the blocks, I really felt I was doing it for the whole country. I wasn't nervous, I was really excited because I've seen these guys next to me and the support we have in the stadium. It's an unbelievable, we just can't get over it."
For Adeleke, delivering a gold medal was something she felt Ireland were on course to do.
"It means so much because we knew what we could do as a team; we were really strong and it just felt like it was our turn - to win a championship medal at senior level. We've worked so hard, we trust each other, and that showed on the track today."
Barr, running in his sixth European Championships, now has a gold medal to go along the bronze he won in the 400m hurdles in 2018.
"I have been around a long time and medals at European Championships do not come around that often," he summed up.
"This is just a phenomenal performance. We knew what we could do coming into this; we knew off the back of the World Relays that we had a really good shot. And it wasn't just any medal but if we really got it right on the day, which we did, we ended up with a championship record, close to a world record, and a gold, not just on the line.
"We took it by storm. This won't sink in for a while but we have to enjoy it; it does not come around that often. I'm a very, very happy athlete right now."
"Everything we dream of"... "It means so much"... "We knew what we could do!"... "I've trained my life for this"
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) June 7, 2024
Chris O'Donnell, Rhasidat Adeleke, Thomas Barr & Sharlene Mawdsley try to sum up their magnificent European gold 🥇☘️ #RTEsport pic.twitter.com/la703yHGSD
Mawdsley spoke about the moment she decided to pass the Italian in front of her and hit for home.
"Honestly I wanted to take her on the back straight but then I said, 'hold on Sharlene, just use her, she's going out hard'.
"I was getting a bit impatient, I wanted to take her on the bend but then I said 'just go for it'. I have trained my life for this.
"Tom and I were saying earlier that we felt so good in the a warm up; we were wondering what was going on?
"Honestly it's everything to me, probably everything to the team. The whole stadium was just amazing and the Irish fans turn up every time and it's just super."
Barr, Adeleke, O'Donnell and Mawdsley join Sonia O'Sullivan as the only gold medallists for Ireland in the 90-year history of the European Championships.
