Sharlene Mawdsley makes impressive injury return with 400m victory in Italy

Sharlene Mawdsley has made an impressive return to racing after a six-week absence, winning the 400m at the Palio Città della Quercia meeting in Rovereto, Italy.In her first competitive outing since sustaining a hamstring tear in the 200m final at the National Championships in Santry in July, Mawdsley finished strongly in 50.58 seconds to run down Britain’s Charlotte Henrich, who finished second in 50.70. American Paris Peoples finished third, clocking 51.09.It was also a timely return for Mawdsley as she will next race in the 400m at this weekend’s newly minted World Athletics Ultimate Championship. The meet in Budapest carries a record prize pot of $10 million.Starting in lane four, the Tipperary athlete displayed no lingering effects from the injury which forced her to withdraw from last month’s European Championships in Birmingham.READ MOREThe last stop on the World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meeting circuit, the race in Rovereto afforded Mawdsley a test run ahead of Budapest, where the inaugural Ultimate Championship will be staged over three evening sessions from Friday to Sunday.Each event winner at the meet will pocket $150,000, the largest winner’s prize in track and field history. The runner-up will earn $75,000, with third gets $40,000. Each athlete will receive some prize money, down to the last-place finisher in each event, who will receive $2,000.Mawdsley is ranked 13th of the 16 women invited to take part in the women’s 400m, with Mark English and Rhasidat Adeleke also set to race in Budapest. English is ranked seventh of the 16 athletes invited for the men’s 800m, while Adeleke is ranked 16th in the women’s 200m.Sarah Healy and Sophie O’Sullivan were also in action in Rovereto, both racing in the women’s 1,500m. Healy finished fourth in 4:02.72, while O’Sullivan clocked 4:06.80 to finish 11th in a closely-fought tactical race.In the men’s 100m, Bori Akinola finished sixth in the 100m, clocking 10.40 seconds, while Darragh McElhinney and Brian Fay finished 16th and 19th respectively in the men’s 3,000m, while Eric Favors threw 19.67m to finish eighth in the shot put.