The outdoor season is beginning to properly heat up now and that means one thing for athletics fans: midweek meetings are back on the menu.
Today, Newport AC sprint star Sharlene Mawdsley opens her individual outdoor campaign when she lines up in the women’s 400 metres at the Meeting Città Di Savona in Italy, part of the World Athletics Continental Tour Challenger series. The meeting takes place at the Complesso Polisportivo Giulio Ottolia in Savona.
Savona has become something of a happy hunting ground for Mawdsley in recent seasons. This will be her third consecutive appearance at the meeting. She claimed victory in the 400m there in 2024 in a strong 51.43 getting the better of 800m British Olympic Gold Medallist Keely Hodgkinson, before returning last year to finish 2nd in 52.00.
She will now look to make it two wins from three appearances this afternoon.
Mawdsley’s last twelve months have been eventful both on and off the track. Last season she helped Ireland secure qualification for the World Athletics Championships during the relay campaign in Guangzhou, before later stepping away temporarily,
She returned to competition later in the season and remains one of the central figures in Irish sprinting heading into another major championship year.
This season has already started strongly for the Tipperary athlete. Less than a month ago, she produced a superb anchor leg in Gaborone, Botswana, helping secure qualification for Tokyo 2027 for the Irish women’s relay squad.
This afternoon, however, marks something slightly different.
This is Mawdsley’s first individual outdoor 400m appearance of the season and an early chance to gauge where she stands heading into the busy summer period.
The Savona meeting traditionally attracts strong sprint fields and quick times, with athletes using it as an early season marker before the bigger Diamond League and championship meetings begin stacking up across Europe.
🇮🇹 Meeting Città Di Savona
⏰ 4.52pm - Women’s 400m – Sharlene Mawdsley
- 📺 Live Stream (UPDATE: Geolocked to Italy unfortunately)
- 📺 Replay (Available from 6PM)
- 📊 Results
- 📄 Start Lists
