Their finish time of 3:09.92 set a new national record.

This victory marks Ireland’s first European athletics gold medal since 1998. The team finished 0.77 seconds ahead of Italy, who took second place.

Chris O’Donnell, from Sligo, started strong with a 46.09 leg, positioning Ireland in fourth place. Rhasidat Adeleke then delivered an impressive 49.53, propelling the team into first at the second handover. Thomas Barr, a 400-meter hurdler, kept Ireland in contention with a stellar 44.90 leg.

Sharlene Mawdsley, starting her leg in second place, ran an exceptional 49.40 to take the lead in the final 100 meters, securing gold for Ireland.

Their performance broke the national record, improving by 1.61 seconds over the previous record set by the same quartet at the World Athletics Relays in the Bahamas last month.

Speaking after the race, O’Donnell said the European gold medal was “everything we’ve dreamed of”.

“When I started going into the blocks, I really felt I was doing it for the whole country,” O’Donnell told RTÉ Sport. “I wasn’t nervous, I was really excited because I’ve seen these guys next to me and the support we have in the stadium. It’s unbelievable, we just can’t get over it.”

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Ben Lynch