‘Now I back myself, nothing can break me’ – Sharlene Mawdsley’s resilience borne from missing Tokyo Olympics

Sharlene Mawdsley was 'devastated' to be disqualified from the 400m final at the World Indoors, but bounced back to help the 4x400m relay team reach their final in Glasgow. Photo: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

Sinéad Kissane

Sharlene Mawdsley’s 400m semi-final was running on a loop in her head the night she was disqualified from competing in her first individual global final in Glasgow two weeks ago.

What if she waited to make her move, she asked herself? What if her tactics were different? The mind games left her with only a few hours’ sleep on a World Indoor Championship weekend while her tenacity was also getting an early season gut-check in an Olympic year.