Athletics - Sensational Irish women's 4x100m relay team 5th in the World U20 Championships

The Irish women's 4x100m relay team put in a sensational performance to finish 5th in 44.82 seconds in the final of the IAAF World U20 championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland today (July 23).

The quartet of Molly Scott (SLOT), Sharlene Mawdsley (Newport), Gina Akpe-Moses (Blackrock Louth) and Ciara Neville (Emerald) smashed the national U20 record with an exceptional performance. 

Scott had a breathtaking start to put them in contention and she was delighted with the team's performance. "I don’t think we could have asked for any better," said Scott who finished third in the 100m hurdles at the European Youth Athletics Championships last week. "We smashed the national record and to finish 5th out of 166 nations competing is pretty impressive. 

Mawdsley was on the second leg and she was equally pleased with the performance. "We had good changeovers and I'm delighted with that. "Mawdsley handed over to Akpe-Moses on the top and she echoed the delight: "I'm so happy we made the final and to come 5th as well was great. It's a great experience."

Neville anchored the team home and was just pipped by the Poles by one hundreth of a second who had Ewa Swoboda, the second fastest U20 in history, on the anchor leg. "I was just focused on the line and just missed out," said a more than content Neville afterwards. All of the team thanked national relay coach Karen Kirk afterwards. The race was won by the USA in a world U20 leading time of 43.69 seconds. 

You can watch the race here: 

For a video interview with the team go to the Athletics Ireland Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AthleticsIreland/