Sharlene Mawdsley came within a few strides of winning the biggest 400m of her career when finishing second at the FBK Games on Sunday afternoon, managing a personal best of 50.14 seconds.Leading into the homestretch after running a superb opening 300m, Mawdsley was run down in the last 10m by Egypt’s Bassant Hemida, who clocked a national record of 50.10 for the biggest win of her career.Mawdsley is edging ever closer to breaking the 50-second barrier, this being her third PB so far this season. She also left three sub-50 runners in her wake, including Lieke Klaver, the Dutch star taking third in 50.60, with Lurdes Gloria Manuel from the Czech Republic, who last week ran 49.74 in Ostrava and was fourth here in 50.76.Twice in the space of a week last month Mawdsley lowered her best 400m, first running 50.52 in Italy before clocking 50.17 in Brussels, proving she’s no longer reserving her best for the relays. Mawdsley turns 28 on August 10th, the same day the European Championships start in Birmingham, and she’s fast establishing herself as a medal contender.Exactly nine months on from breaking the Irish 800m record in finishing fourth at the World Championships in Tokyo, Cian McPhillips returned to action in Hengelo, the Dutch stop on the World Athletics Continental Tour.After a series of setbacks which cut short his indoor season and delayed the start of his outdoor return, the 24-year-old ran a cautious race, sitting towards the back as the field hit the bell in 50.5 seconds.Cian McPhillips finished fifth in the men's 800m in 1:44.89. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho Still in eighth coming into the homestretch, McPhillips found some of his trademark sprint finish from there, moving out into lane three and getting up to fifth in 1:44.89, faster than he’d ever run before 2025. His Irish record of 1:42.15, set in Tokyo, still looks within reach as the season progresses. Dutch star Niels Laros improved his PB to 1:43.83 in claiming the win.Nick Griggs was the top European in a world-class 5,000m, the 21-year-old coming through to take fourth in 13:19.01, with victory going to Uganda’s Keneth Kiprop in 13:13.43. Benji Richardson, the former South Africa athlete now representing Ireland, also ran 10.14 seconds to finish sixth in the 100m behind his former countryman Akani Simbini, who won in 10.14.Orla Comerford continued her excellent season with a clear victory in the women’s para athletics 100m, the Raheny Shamrock athlete improving her lifetime best to 11.76 seconds. Cathal Doyle also ran a season best of 3:34.98 to finish eighth in the 1,500m.Meanwhile in Dublin, Jake O’Regan (St John’s AC) and Heather Murphy (St Michael’s AC) were both commanding winners at the National five-mile road race in the Phoenix Park. O’Regan added to previous his national successes over 10k (2023) and the half-marathon (2025), winning in 24:27 ahead of Dylan Casey (Ennis Track), second in 24:38, with Gerry Forde (Kilkenny City Harriers) completing the podium in 24:48.Murphy continued her impressive season with a second national title of 2026, adding the five-mile crown to her national half-marathon victory in Cork last month, crossing the line in 27:24. Nakita Burke (Letterkenny AC) was second in 27:44, with Fiona Roche (Raheny Shamrock) third in 28:47.