Sharlene Mawdsley has missed out on qualification for the women’s 400m final at the Ultimate Championship in Budapest, finishing seventh in her semi-final.
Ranked 13th of the 16 athletes invited to take part in the event, Mawdsley clocked 51.28 to finish seventh in Friday evening’s opening semi-final.
Olympic and World champion Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic finished first in 49.58, while Olympic silver medallist from the Paris Games, Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser second in 49.67. Jamaica’s Nickisha Pryce and Roxana Gómez of Cuba secured the remaining qualification spots in third and fourth respectively.
In the second semi-final, Norway’s Henriette Jaeger crossed the line in 49.64 for first, Lieke Klaver of the Netherlands, Aaliyah Butler of the USA and Chile’s Martina Weil also doing enough to reach Saturday’s final.
The event represented bonus-territory for Mawdsley, who made her return from injury earlier this week with a win in the 400m at the Palio Città della Quercia meeting in Italy. The Tipperary athlete was forced to pull out of the European Championships in Birmingham last month due to a hamstring injury she picked up at the National Championships in Santry in July.
Mark English and Rhasidat Adeleke will also be in action in Budapest over the weekend, both having qualified for the meet – which has an over prize pot of $10 million – by virtue of their world rankings in their respective events.
English will race in the men’s 800m semi-finals on Saturday (5.26pm Irish time; final 6.41pm Sunday) before Adeleke lines out in the women’s 200m semi-finals on Sunday (5.44pm; final at 7.49pm).