Rhasidat Adeleke thrilled the largest crowd seen at a National Senior Track & Field Championships for some years as the 21-year-old raced to a new Irish 100m record on Sunday. Despite the grey skies above, Adeleke lit up the stadium stopping the clock in a time of 11.13 seconds, beating defending champion Sarah Lavin into second place and stripping the Limerick woman of 11.27 record that she had set last year.
That completed the full sprint record set for the Tallaght athlete who now holds every single Irish women’s mark from 100m-400m inclusive who had made no secret that was her target going into the championships.
“I feel really good, oh my God, the crowd is amazing,” said Adeleke afterwards. “Just coming out and seeing so many people out here for an athletics competition, I absolutely love it and it definitely riled me on to go on and break the record.
“I love competing in Morton Stadium at the Nationals. It’s very important to me to come back home and make sure I put on a performance for everyone who’s been supporting me throughout the season.
“I didn’t really know what I was going to do. I haven’t been doing that much speed work, I’ve been trying to focus on the 400m. But to be able to come here and get the national record, 11.13, I’m really happy with that,” she concluded.
Like Adeleke, Donegal man Mark English was already assured of his place in the Paris Olympics and all the only challenge remaining was to pick up his ninth outdoor 800m title. That he did with ease, tracking leader Cillian Kirwan until the final straight before putting his foot on the gas claim the gold medal in a modest 1:49.18.
“It’s never easy, I’m glad to come away with a win,” said the Finn Valley athlete. “My targets coming into the year were to qualify for the Olympics and break the national record, and I’ve done that twice.”
In contrast, Louise Shanahan’s dreams of a second Olympics were dashed when she was out-sprinted by Sarah Healy in the 800m. Healy’s time was a fairly commonplace 2:03.64 and while the UCD AC athlete can look forward to running the 1500m in Paris, it will be disappointment for the Cork woman.
Without a qualifying time, Thomas Barr’s hopes of an Olympic spot in the 400m hurdles now look slim after failing to improve his standings measurably despite two attempts over the weekend. He described his final on Sunday as one of his worst races but nevertheless took the title in 50.61 seconds as Tir Chonnaill AC teenager Fintan Dewhirst closed strongly for the runner-up spot in 51.65.
Jack Raftery caused an upset in the 400m when he got the better of defending champion Chris O’Donnell, who was part of Ireland’s European gold medal winning mixed relay team, after the Sligo man’s legs buckled in the final 20 metres. Raftery was timed at 45.95, marginally outside his personal best. Ballymena & Antrim’s Callum Baird was third in 46.20.
Sophie Becker was also looking to improve her Olympic standings in the women’s 400m but possibly will be disappointed with her 52.68 seconds timing. North Down’s Rachel McCann looks to have run herself in the Irish women’s 4 x 400m relay squad with a second place in 53.60 seconds.
Israel Olatunde showed his top form of the season with a 10.27 second clocking to win the 100m but he had to be at his best with UCD AC’s Bori Akinola running him to two-hundredths of a second at the line.
Both 1500m races went to form with Cathal Doyle completing a hat-trick of wins in the 1500m. Fast developing a reputation as a shrewd tactician, the Clonliffe Harrier turned on the afterburners to see off the challenge of Luke McCann in 3:44.15. Andrew Coscoran who has the qualifying time was a late withdrawal from the final for unspecified reasons. Sophie O’Sullivan was the winner of the women’s 1500m in 4:20.45 after leading from gun to tape.
City of Lisburn’s Ellen McCartney claimed the women’s pole vault title with a 4.17m clearance while Finn Valley’s Roisin Flanagan picked up a bronze medal in the 5000m won by Jodie McCann. There were victories on Saturday for Ulster athletes Jai Benson in the triple jump and for Sommer Lecky in the high jump.