World stage beckons as Kilkenny athlete Molly Daly earns senior call-up from Athletics Ireland

Kilkenny’s Molly Daly is all set to make her senior international relay debut on the world stage.

The 18-year-old Kilkenny City Harriers athlete has been selected by Athletics Ireland for the 2026 World Athletics Relays which will be held in Gaborone, Botswana in May. She will be part of the Women’s 4x400m and Mixed 4x400m squads.

Daly and Erin Friel (Letterkenny AC) have been called up to the senior relay squad for the first time. Daly ran a time of 53.74 seconds last month indoors in only her third ever race over the distance, while Friel, who is a European Youth Olympic medallist, also ran a personal best of 54.20 seconds indoors.

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A women’s and mixed 4x400m team, along with a women’s 4x100m team will travel to the championships aiming to seal qualification for the 2027 World Athletics Championships which will be hosted by Beijing, China.

The top 12 teams in each event will qualify for the World Athletics Championships, with the top six teams in the mixed 4x400m relay qualifying for the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest in September.

Sharlene Mawdsley (Newport AC) headlines the team, while Olympic relay finalist Sophie Becker (Raheny Shamrock AC) and Rachel McCann (North Down AC) also feature.

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Jack Raftery (Donore Harriers) returns to the World Athletics Relays once again, having played key roles for both the mixed and men’s teams in Guangzhou last year. He is joined in the mixed relay by young athletes Sean Doggett (Athenry AC) and Fintan Dewhirst (Tír Chonaill AC) who finished first and second respectively at March’s 123.ie National Senior Indoor Championships.

“We are excited to travel to Gaborone with three strong squads in pursuit of 2027 World Athletics Championships qualification and in preparation for August’s European Athletics Championships,” said Christian Malcolm, Athletics Ireland High Performance Sprints Lead

“It’s exciting to see the progress of the 4x100m squads, with the women’s squad comfortably qualified to be here, and both the men and women on track to make an impact at the European Championships in Birmingham this summer. We look forward to our final preparation camp in Stellenbosch, South Africa before we travel to Gaborone to compete.”

Twelve teams in each of the events will automatically qualify for the 2027 World Athletics Championships in Beijing.