Conor Kelly and Ireland mixed 4x400m team seal World Championships qualification

Conor Kelly helped the Ireland mixed 4x400m relay team into the final at the World Athletics Relays - and secured qualification for the World Athletics Championships in the process.

Finn Valley AC athlete Kelly was part of the Irish quartet that finished in 3:12.56 at the Guangdong Olympic Stadium in Guangzhou, China.

Kelly, a 17-year-old who has recently moved to Finn Valley AC, was making his senior outdoor debut in an Irish vest.

Kelly ran the opening leg and handed the baton to Rhasidat Adeleke. With Cillian Greene and Sharlene Mawdsley also doing a lap, Ireland finished behind heat winners USA, who finished in 3:11.37.

A fine anchor leg by Mawdsley saw Ireland overtake Poland for second with the Polish quartet crossing the line in 3:12.70.

Kelly was in for the retired Thomas Barr from the Ireland team that won bronze at last year’s World Athletics Relays in the Bahamas.

“It’s good,” he said. “It was a strong heat as well. Having USA and Poland in the race isn’t easy. To go out and take those people on, it’s great.”

The Irish team goes into Sunday’s final as the fourth ranked of the eight teams.

With automatic qualification ensured for the World Championships, which take place in Tokyo in September, Adeleke and Mawdsley are expected to run with the women’s 4x400m team on Sunday rather than the mixed 4x400m.

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A women’s team of Sophie Becker, Lauren Cadden, Rachel McCann and Phil Healy finished third in their heat, clocking 3:30.06, and will be back on track on Sunday in an attempt to qualify for the Worlds.

Grange native Chris O’Donnell, who attended Magh Ene College in Bundoran, was a member of the Irish men’s 4x400m team who finished sixth in their heat. O’Donnell, Callum Baird, Marcus Lawlor and Jack Raftery finished in 3:05.47.