SHARLENE MAWDSLEY criticised a recently released Netflix documentary series for “not showing the reality” of athletics.
The TV series – named Sprint – was released last year and charts the careers of a group of elite runners.
According to IMDB, it “provides an insider’s perspective on the high stakes and mental toughness of sprinters.”
However, while Mawdsley did watch the show up to a point, she believes it did not give fans an insight into the inner workings and sacrifice in the sport.
She told RTE: “We’ve discussed it as athletes between ourselves, even just with my training group.
“It’s very glamourised and I think that’s the side of the sport people see quite often.
“You see us going out to the track with our hair done, our make-up done, our tan is on and we’re looking our best.
“You don’t see us puking on the side of a track in training and I feel it would have been nice had they showed that a little bit more.
“I think there was a lot of noise made in Sprint, whereas that’s not actually the reality of our sport.
“Of course, it’s a part of it but it’s not the 95% of it that they didn’t show.
“It would be nice if you could see more of that.”
The 26-year-old is an active user of social media, through which she gives her followers an inside look at her own progress.
This includes training camps in the likes of South Africa and the Tenerife.
With that territory comes negative and troll comments, with Mawdsley admitting to such in an interview with the Irish Independent.
The Newport AC export said she tries not to get bogged down when it comes to media attention.
She explained: “Mostly I don’t think twice about it, but then you are walking down the street with your groceries and someone stops you for a picture.
“The crying on TV was a big one, because it showed people how much it meant to us.
“I am sitting here at the track and these are the days that no one sees that you have to dig in and do the work.
“The majority of the attention has been good — I get messages from mothers all the time saying how much of an impact it has on their daughters.”
Attention in traditional media has brought with it scrutiny on social media.
She added: “I definitely get comments.
“Someone posted under one of my training posts last week: ‘All of this training for fourth at the Olympics.’
“Sometimes I’ll bark back and say, ‘How did you get on at the Olympics?’”
