As her post-Olympics outlook becomes clearer, Irish sprinter Sharlene Mawdsley has announced a change of coach.
Mawdsley has worked with fellow Tipperary native Gary Ryan for the past few years. Ryan ran in two Olympic Games in 1996 and 2000, and guided Mawdsley through this past summer of unprecedented success. The 26-year-old has previously credited Ryan with saving her sprinting career.
Having teased a big incoming move on her social media, Mawdsley announced on Tuesday that she had decided to make a change which will see her spend much of her time training in the UK.
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Mawdsley will be working under UK-based coach Tony Lester, who has coached a number of succesful Olympians over the years.
In her Instagram post, Mawdsley said:
I have decided to move training group to train with Tony Lester. I am very excited for this chapter of my career and I feel extremely lucky to be training with some really talented and likeminded people.
I am very thankful for Gary who coached me the past number of years, I enjoyed my time under his guidance whilst he showed me his knowledge and expertise and helped me get to the biggest stages in our sport.
I am also extremely grateful to my team and my loved ones who have supported me through this decision and continue to do so every single day.
It seems as though time away from Ireland is on the cards as Mawdsley prepares to go again in pursuit of LA 2028.
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Sharlene Mawdsley announces coach switch in post-Olympics drive
Tony Lester has coached several Olympians and World Championship-level athletes during a renowned career of coaching. The former coach of British Athletics, he has spent the last few years with the Danish athletics federation in Aarhus.
He continues to coach British athletes - most notably the Nielsen sisters Laviai and Lina, who were part of the Team GB 4x400m team who narrowly beat Mawdsley and Ireland to bronze in the heartbreaking Olympic final in Paris.
An interview with the Nielsen sisters in Athletics Weekly this week shed further light on what the future holds for Mawdsley.
Coach Lester had been based in Denmark for the past few years but suffered a cardiac arrest in the lead-up to June's European Championships which led him to reconsider and decide to move back closer to home.
He is in the process of setting up a new training base in west London, which Athletics Weekly suggest will be a "new home" for Lester's new batch of sprinters - a group he wants to make the best sprinters in the UK.
Earlier this week, Mawdsley had posted a photo of her passport on her Instagram story, teasing that a move was incoming. On Tuesday evening, Mawdsley re-shared an Instagram story from Laviai Nielsen which showed the pair as part of a training group working together in London.
A heartbroken Mawdsley was in tears after the heartbreak of losing out to the Nielsens and Team GB in the 4x400m final in August. Despite the heartbreak of Paris, she appeared to confirm in a recent interview that she has decided against stepping away from sprinting and is now determined to push towards the next Olympic Games.
It seems as though Sharlene Mawdsley is settling in well in the UK and, with coach Tony Lester's winning credentials, Irish fans can hope that this is the start of a major push towards Los Angeles in 2028.
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