Glas was half empty but now she’s full of belief

MAWDSLEY WON’T ALLOW CONTROVERSY TO DERAIL SEASON

SHARLENE MAWDSLEY can’t wait to let her running do the talking after such a bittersweet World Indoor Championship experience.

Mawdsley made headlines when she was disqualified from the 400m semi-final in Glasgow at the start of the month.

To the astonishment of most observers, the 25-year-old’s third place finish was wiped because of the appeal made by the Austrian delegation on behalf of their athlete Susanne Gogl-walli.

It was ruled that Mawdsley had obstructed the Austrian.

“I haven’t heard of it before,” said the Tipperary woman. “I remember a few years ago people were getting disqualified but it was for lane infringement.

“Unfortunately, they just made an example of me this time.”

Mawdsley heard of the appeal as she was getting physio after the race and it was devastating when Team Ireland’s counterappeal was unsuccessful. She did briefly think about putting Glasgow in her rearview mirror but she rallied and was the star of the women’s 4x400m relay team (inset) that finished fifth in the final.

“It would have been a long block of training without having had another race so I think I was really blessed to have had the relay after it,” Mawdsley said.

“It would have done a lot for me to be in that final.

“But the fact that I was able to come back with the relay so soon makes me know that I’m really hungry and I’m able to produce what I can on a disappointing day.”

What occurred has fired her up with her outdoor season still ahead of her, including the European Championships in Rome followed by the Paris Olympics.

“It’s huge. I had a hill session last week and that last rep I did not want to finish but all I was thinking in my head was, ‘I’ve a point to prove, I’ve a point to prove’,” she recalled.

“So it’s definitely helped me so far. Hopefully, once I go on to the track now, I want to have all of the work done so I just let my running do the talking.

“I had a lot of regret thinking, ‘What if I waited to make my move?’.

“But I’ve taken a lot of confidence into outdoors. I’ll definitely have my own lane there.”