Updated Sharlene Mawdsley disqualified from World Indoor Championships 400m final

Sharlene Mawdsley's World Athletics Indoor Championships dreams were shattered after she was disqualified for obstructing Austria's Susanne Gogl-Walli having qualified for the 400m final on Friday night.

Mawdsley had been ranked last of the six competitors in her semi-final but after a turbulent end to the first 200 metres, the 25-year-old Tipperary woman ran strongly and found herself in fourth place entering the final lap with the first three across the line qualifying automatically for the final.

After a tangle with the Susanne Gogl Walli at the 200-metre mark as the athletes broke from lanes and clustered around the third bend, Mawdsley summoned enough reserve to pass the Austrian runner with around 100 metres to go but her move to claim the inside running line was a sharp one.

Such are the fine margins due to the confined spaces of indoor running on a 200-metre track, that any such manoeuvres invariably incur judges' scrutiny.

Mawdsley kept up her forward momentum and crossed the line in third position for what appeared to be a qualification berth for the final in 52.16 seconds.

But when Gogl Walli completed the race in fourth position, the Austrian delegation were entitled to appeal to the track referee and they were successful in making their case, so Mawdsley was disqualified for breaching the rule on obstruction.

Athletics Ireland disagreed with the decision and then launched a counter-appeal, insisting Mawdsley had held her line until the athlete was passed and only moved back in when there was space to do so.

The video evidence was then examined by a Jury of Appeal which upheld the track referee's decision and so the disqualification was confirmed shortly after 11pm last night.

Mawdsley returns to action in the 4x400m