Dubliner Rhasidat Adeleke (21) was the first Irish woman to break the 50-second barrier in the 400 metres.
What is her record to date?
Adeleke holds seven individual Irish records – 60m indoors, 100m outdoors, 200m indoors and outdoors, 300m indoors and 400m indoors and outdoors.
As part of relay teams, Adeleke has contributed to setting two additional Irish records – the women’s 4 x 400m relay and the mixed 4 x 400m relay.
Where did it all begin?
Rhasidat has worked for An Post.
She is a member of Tallaght Athletic Club.
Before her athletics career took off, Rhasidat took part in many sports, including Gaelic football, camogie, volleyball, badminton, and basketball.
At 6 foot tall, she also shone at basketball, but she ultimately decided to concentrate on athletics.
At 14, Rhasidat won a junior sprint double at the Irish Schools championships for her school, Presentation College, Terenure, in 2017.
A month later, she won the silver medal in the 200m at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Hungary.
In 2018, she took gold in the event at the European U18 championships, also in Hungry, and a silver at the World U20 Championships, in Finland.
In 2019 she won the 100m / 200m sprint double at the European Youth Olympic Festival, in Azerbaijan.
In 2021, Rhasidat took up a scholarship with the University of Texas at Austin.
What was Adeleke’s route to the semi-final?
Paris is the first Olympic Games in which Rhasidat has competed. She made her Olympic debut on Monday (August 5), winning her 400, heat, in Stade de France. No Irish Woman has ever qualified for an Olympic sprint final before.
When and where will Rhasidat Adeleke’s semi-final 400m race take place?
Adeleke’s semi-final will take place in Stade de France on Wednesday (August 7) at 7.45pm Irish time.
Where can I watch the race?
Wednesday August 7 (7.45pm): Women’s 400m semi-finals - RTÉ2 from 6pm; BBC1; Discovery+; RTE Player; and RTE Radio One.
Friday, August 9 (7pm): Women’s 400m final - RTÉ 2 from 6pm; BBC1; Discovery+; RTE Player; and RTE Radio One.
Betting odds
Evens, Marileidy Paulinho (Dominican Republic); 7/5, Nickisha Pryce (Jamaica); 6/1, Rhasidat Adeleke (Ireland); and 8/1, Natalia Kaczmarek (Poland).
