Rhasidat Adeleke promises improvement after making Olympic 400m final
Tallaght star broke new ground for Irish sprinting, but admitted she has work to do
Messy. That’s how Rhasidat Adeleke described her 400m semi-final last night in Paris.
The Tallaght star broke new ground for Irish sprinting by making tomorrow’s OIympic final. But she was out of sorts in the final 100m and only just held on to second place ahead of Norway’s Henriette Jaeger.
She had to dig deep for the runner-up spot behind Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser and the automatic qualification place. Now she will work on what went wrong.
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“That was a very messy race. I’m just really excited that I was able to get to the final and fix everything,” Adeleke told RTE’s David Gillick.
Adeleke will be the first Irish female sprinter to feature in an Olympic final when she lines up in lane four tomorrow at 7pm (Irish Time).
Britain’s Amber Anning will be on her outside, with Marileidy Paulino in lane six and Polish star Natalia Kaczmarek in lane seven.
Jaeger, Sada Williams of Barbados and American Alexis Holmes will complete the field.
The Irish record holder came onto the track last night wearing her now trademark white JoJo bow and looked focussed, waving to the crowd when her name was announced.
When the runners were eventually called to their blocks they were left there for what seemed an unusually long time.
There was a false start which meant more time and more anxiety. Both for the Irish support and for Adeleke.
“The starter held us really long the first time, I think I was ready to go then. But when we went again I feel like I was thinking about it too much,” said Adeleke.
“I didn’t execute my first 200 as I should have, but that’s all things we can fix for the final.
“I think I also panicked a bit which made me break form really early. But no, I’m excited and now I can give it my best shot.”
Naser pulled away from Adeleke in the home straight to win in a time of 49.08 and the Tallaght star was losing altitude in the final metres.
It was guts that got her over the line ahead of Jaeger in a time of 49.95 to secure a place in tomorrow’s final.
She was visibly fatigued at the finish, but there are no concerns from Irish camp about her physical state ahead of the final.
“Back to square one, go again,” said the 21-year-old. “I’ve been in a place where the rounds may not have gone as I’d want them to, but the final went great — so I’m not too worried about it.
“(The support) was unreal again today. Hopefully it’s going to be the same for the final. I’m just so grateful to everyone, it means so much.”
Earlier, Adeleke’s brother Abdullahi and her friend Zainab Ogunmade had spoken about their pride in her achievements and their nerves at watching her on the biggest stage.
“It’s hard watching. I’m just so nervous,” said Abdullahi Adeleke. “But just seeing her in the Olympics is really inspiring.
“I was nervous on Monday, but I saw when she came off the bend that she had it in the bag. I saw her conserve her energy for the semi-final. So that was good.”
Abdullahi has made the trip to Paris with his sister Lati and mother Ade, while Ogunmade has also travelled to support her friend.
“I don’t know how she does it, when it comes to the end of the races, sometimes it can be so tight,” said Ogunmade.
“This is actually the first chance I’ve had to watch her race because I’m always in work. So when she said she was going to the Olympics I was like, ‘I definitely have to go, this is big, big’. So I’m excited.
“It’s really nice to see her achieve her dreams, it’s a testament to how hard work will get you so far. It’s not just talent, she does work really hard and no one deserves it more than her.
“Every day she puts her best foot forward, she tries her best. I think that shows. She’s gotten this far and she can only go further.”
In the morning session, Sarah Lavin was impressive when securing semi-final qualification in the fourth heat of the women’s 100m hurdles.
“I think you have to risk it for the biscuit — making that final,” said Lavin.
“It’s not beyond me, judging by the times this morning. I’ll have to be absolutely firing on all cylinders,” she said.
Mark English put in a storming performance to finish second in his heat of the men’s 800m. The Donegal man looked back to his best, pulling clear in the final 50m to cross the line just behind France’s Gabriel Tual in a time of 1:45.15.
“The plan worked out, I’m delighted to be in the semi-final,” he said.
“I wanted to be in contention at 400m and 600m and I managed to do that. I’m delighted to come through that without having to navigate too much and getting a clean enough ride through.”
There was disappointment for Sophie O’Sullivan and Sarah Healy who were out of luck in the repechage round of 1500m.
On Tuesday, both athletes agonisingly missed a place in the semi-final by one spot and it was the same outcome yesterday.
“The experience was great and getting out there was so much fun,” said O’Sullivan after running a time of 4:03.73.
“I would’ve loved to do it one more time but twice is good, its more than you’d usually get if you were knocked out in the first round.”
Healy was disappointed after her efforts came up just short on both days.
“I just really didn’t feel like I have what I normally have,” she said. “I don’t really feel like myself the last few days, something is a bit off and I’m not sure what. I don’t know if it’s physical or mental.”
Brian Fay finished 13th in his heat of the men’s 5000m.
“I ran it as well as I could have but to call a spade a spade, I’m just not good enough at the minute to really have that strong a finish,” said Fay.
“I don’t think I’m that far off it. I’ll get it right eventually. I just need to keep showing up.”
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