Rhasidat Adeleke just fell short of claiming a third Irish gold at the European Athletics Championships in Rome on Monday night.
The 21-year-old Tallaght athlete may have been disappointed not to grab that gold but she should have no reason to be so after a fighting runner-up spot behind Poland’s Natalia Kaczmarek who stopped the clock at a world-leading 48.98 seconds.
Adeleke’s time of 49.07 was a new Irish record and the fastest time by the European U23 this year.
Lieke Klaver from the Netherlands took the bronze medal in 50.08 while Ireland’s other representative in the final Sharlene Mawdsley finished eighth in 51.59 seconds.
Drawn in lane six, Adeleke was in a position to keep an eye on the top-ranked European Kaczmarek in the lane outside her while Mawdsley was inside her in four.
Adeleke started cautiously but ran a great second bend to enter the home straight with a slight advantage over Pole.
The pair proceeded to slug it out like two boxers all the way down the straight but in the end Kaczmarek’s experience showed as she gained a decisive metre close to the finish line.
“When I crossed the line and realised I came second I was a bit devastated,” said Adeleke.
“We’re going to continue training really hard for the next couple of week and when it comes to Paris, we’ll be where we need to be.
“I wanted the gold but still, I could have not made the final, there’s so many things that could have gone wrong. I should be grateful.”
It was only Adeleke’s third individual 400m of the year. The first was indoors in February at Albuquerque when she won in 51.12.
🥈SILVER for Rhasidat Adeleke with a NR of 49.07 in the women’s 400m final 💚🇮🇪
— Athletics Ireland (@irishathletics) June 10, 2024
#Roma2024 #IrishAthletics pic.twitter.com/MskvoHkN0P
The second was the semi-final on Sunday night when again she was first across the finish line, this time in 50.54.
Her Irish record of 49.20 dates from almost exactly a year ago and was recorded the NCAA title on her home track at the University of Texas in Austin.
She was also part of the Longhorns’ winning 4x100m quartet.
It was shortly after that when she decided to forego her scholarship at the University of Texas to pursue a professional career although she continued to be coached by Edric Floréal.
She was favoured to get a medal at last year’s World Athletics Championships in Budapest but missed out narrowly on a podium place after finishing fourth.
Adeleke is expected to be back in action on Tuesday in the heats of the women’s 4x 400m relay alongside Mawdsley who did all that was expected of her in reaching the final after anchoring the mixed relay team to that historic gold medal on Friday night.
Both women will no doubt be hoping for further medal success in the relay final on Wednesday night.
That would be a fitting conclusion to what is already the best ever European Athletics Championships for an Irish team.
Ireland’s other finalist on Monday night, Nicola Tuthill in the hammer finished in ninth place.
