Ireland finish eighth in final of 4x400m relay

The Irish quartet of Kelly McGrory, Sharlene Mawdsley, Roisin Harrison and Sophie Becker finished eighth in the final of the women's 4x400m relay, bringing down the curtain on an impressive championships for Team Ireland.

It was a thrilling relay final which was won in remarkable fashion by the Netherlands, the 400m hurdles champion Femke Bol making up extraordinary ground in the home straight to pip Jamaica to the gold medal. Great Britain took bronze.

It marked a redemption for Bol, who fell within metres of the line in the 4x400m mixed relay last weekend, dropping the baton over the finish line.

The Irish team, who had exceeded expectations in reaching the final, came home in eighth place, Sharlene Mawdsley again running a strong final leg to lift them above France in ninth.

The Irish quartet clocked a time of 3.27.08, just under a second outside their season's best run in Saturday's semi-final.

Nonetheless, it was a strong overall performance from the team, who were written off in the wake of Rhasidat Adeleke's withdrawal over injury concerns.

Mawdsley, who ran her sixth 400m this week, and finished 6th with the mixed relay team last weekend, said afterwards: "I'm so proud of this team. We ran our hearts out over the last two days, and we’ve finished with a top eight finish.

"We can’t thank the Irish support enough, it’s been amazing. We felt like we were locals stepping out onto the track and every cheer really drove us on so thanks so much to everyone for the support".