SHARLENE MAWDSLEY has confirmed her return for Ireland after taking time away following her dad's death. Mawdsley, 26, has not raced since achieving a season's best in Michael Johnson's Grand Slam Track event in Philadelphia at the start of June. Her dad Thomas died days later on June 3 at the age of 67, with the Tipperary star taking time to mourn before returning to training. And on Monday, the Paris Olympian confirmed that she will be returning to the track at the European Athletics Team Championships in Slovenia this weekend. She said: "Happy Olympic day. "A last minute decision but I’ll be stepping into the Irish kit again this weekend for the European team championships." Mawdsley has been confirmed for the 4x400m mixed relay, with Cillin Greene, Ciaran Carthy, Sophie Becker, and Callum Baird completing the Irish line-up. And fans on social media backed her to make her dad proud regardless of result in Maribor. One said: "Delighted to see this, give the heavens something to smile about" while a second said: "Ur father be proud" A third hailed: "Great to see you back training. It’s been a very tough few weeks" Muireann O'Connell commented: "Well done Charlene ❤️ we’re all thinking of you" Mawdsley has become one of Ireland's brightest sports stars in recent years. She bagged silver and gold in the women's and mixed 4x400m relays respectively at the European Athletics Championships in 2024. The Newport AC export followed that with a promising performance at the Paris Olympics that saw her narrowly miss out on a medal. During her dad's funeral, Sharlene credited her ability to achieve her dreams on the track to her dad's unwavering support and belief in his daughter. She said: "He made me trust that my dreams were never too big and, for that, some of my dreams have already come true. "The best part is I got to share them with you, Dad." BACK IN ACTION Mawdsley has had plenty of help getting into racing shape from her GAA star boyfriend Michael Breen. Breen, who is a senior hurler with Tipperary, joked he was coaching her as he watched her hit the athletics track for a session. University of Limerick has been her training base in recent weeks, with Breen and her dog cheering her on. The 400m specialist was in decent form coming out of Philadelphia, where she placed second in a season's-best 200m time of 23.24. In addition to that showing on the Sunday at the big-money Grand Slam Track event, she also came sixth in the long sprints category 24 hours previous. For that performance, she banked $15,000 with Olympic 400m gold medallist Marileidy Paulino coming out on top. Mawdsley wound up in fifth place. Once again, she clocked a season's-best time in that race at 51.12.