Rhasidat Adeleke

Rhasidat Adeleke (/rəˈʃiːdə/ rə-SHEE-də;[1] born 29 August 2002) is an Irish sprinter.[2][3] She won the 100 metres / 200 m double at the 2021 European Athletics Under-20 Championships.

Rhasidat Adeleke
Adeleke (right) at the 2023 World Athletics Championships
Personal information
Born (2002-08-29) 29 August 2002
Dublin, Ireland
EducationUniversity of Texas
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Sport
CountryIreland
SportAthletics
Event(s)Sprints
College teamTexas Longhorns
ClubTallaght AC
Coached byEdrick Floréal
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Ireland
World U20 Championships
Silver medal – second place2018 Tampere4x100 m relay
European U20 Championships
Gold medal – first place2021 Tallinn100 m
Gold medal – first place2021 Tallinn200 m
European U18 Championships
Gold medal – first place2018 Győr200 m

Adeleke was the first Irish woman to break the 50-second barrier in the 400 metres. She holds six Irish national records (60 m indoors, 200 m indoors and out, 300 m indoors and 400 m indoors and out).

Background

Adeleke was born in Dublin in 2002 to Nigerian parents Ade and Prince Adeleke. She is a member of Tallaght Athletic Club.[4][5][6]

Career

In 2017, 14-year-old Rhasidat Adeleke won a junior sprint double at the Irish Schools championships for Presentation College, Terenure.[5][4] A month later, she claimed the silver medal in the 200 metres at the European Youth Olympic Festival held in Győr, Hungary. The following year, she took gold in the event at the European Under-18 Championships staged also in Győr, and a silver at the World U20 Championships in Tampere, Finland competing in the heats of the 4 x 100 m relay with Molly Scott, Gina Akpe-Moses, Ciara Neville and Patience Jumbo-Gula.[2][7][8][5] In 2019, she claimed the 100 m / 200 m sprint double at the European Youth Olympic Festival held in Baku, Azerbaijan.[9]

In 2021, still 18, Adeleke won her first senior national outdoor title[10] followed by winning the 100 m / 200 m sprint double at the European U20 Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, the first women’s sprint double at these championships since 2011.[11][9] That same year, she took up a scholarship with the University of Texas at Austin and competed in the US Collegiate Indoor Championships.[12]

In August 2022, she placed fifth in the 400 metres final at the European Championships held in Munich, setting an Irish record of 50.53 seconds.[13][14]

2023–present

On 21 January, the 20-year-old lowered her own national indoor 200 m record with a world-leading time of 22.52 s, the fastest time by a European woman since 2003, at the Martin Luther King Invitational in Albuquerque, New Mexico (at altitude).[15] On 4 February, at the UNM Collegiate Classic also in Albuquerque, she set a new Irish indoor record in the 400 m with a world-leading 50.45 s, the fastest time in history indoors or out by an Irish woman.[16] Adeleke improved this mark to 50.33 s the same month, on 25 February at the Big 12 Indoor Championships in Lubbock, Texas, breaking the NCAA record and putting her 14th on the respective world all-time list.[17][18] The following month, she ran 50.45 s at the NCCA Indoors final, again in Albuquerque, earning the silver medal to become the first Irish athlete to win a medal in an NCAA sprint event.[19] She picked up a second silver just one hour later, anchoring the Texas women's 4 × 400 m relay.[20]

Adeleke opened her outdoor season at the Texas Relays in Austin on 31 March. She split 21.7 s in the second 200 m leg of the Texas sprint medley relay, which shattered the collegiate record with a time of 3:36.10.[21] The following day, she ran in three other Texas relays. 4 × 100 m and 4 × 200 m teams set NCAA records with times of 42.00 s and 1:28.05 respectively, while 4 x 400 m team anchored by Adeleke won the competition.[22] On 14 and 15 April, Adeleke obliterated both her national 200 m and 400 m records clocking 22.34 and 49.90 seconds respectively at the Tom Jones Memorial in Gainesville, Florida, becoming the first Irish woman to break the 50-second barrier at the longer distance.[23] A month later, she was part of the relay team that lowered Texas 4 × 100 m collegiate record with a time of 41.89 s at the Big 12 Championships in Norman, Oklahoma.[24] On 27 May, she further lowered her 400 m Irish record to 49.54 s at the NCCA Western Regionals in Sacramento, California.[25] On 8 June, she was part of the Texas 4 X 100 m relay team that again broke the NCCA record in the semi-finals at the NCCA Division 1 National Outdoor Championships in Austin, Texas in 41.55 s.[26] At the same meet on 10 June she again lowered her national record over 400 m to 49.20 s to take gold in the final, having earlier taken gold as part of the Texas quartet that won the 4 X 100 m relay.[27][28]

On 16 July, Adeleke announced that she would be foregoing her final year of eligibility at the University of Texas and would instead be turning professional.[29] Adeleke ran her first race as a professional, representing Nike, at the Gyulai Istvan Memorial 2023, a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting at Szekesfehervar, Hungary on 18 July. She finished second in the 200 m in 22.36 (just outside her Irish record of 22.34), behind Shericka Jackson of Jamaica, who ran 22.02. [30] Adeleke made her Wanda Diamond League debut on 21 July at the Stade Louis II in Monaco. She finished fourth in the 400 metres in 49.99s, in a race won by Poland's Natalia Kaczmarek, who finished in 49.63s.[31][32] On 20 August, Adeleke won her heat in the 400m in 50.8 s at the World Athletic Championships in Budapest, Hungary.[33] On 21 August, she finished second in her semi-final in 49.87 behind the Olympic silver medalist Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic, registering the fourth fastest time overall.[34] [35] In the final on 23 August, Adeleke finished fourth in 50.13s, behind Paulino (48.76), Poland's Natalia Kaczmarek (49.57) and Sada Williams of Barbados (49.60).[36] [37]

Achievements

International competitions
Representing  Ireland
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventTime
2017 European Youth Olympic Festival Győr, Hungary 2nd 200 m 23.81
3rd 4 × 100 m relay 46.38
2018 European U18 Championships Győr, Hungary 1st 200 m 23.52 EYL
World U20 Championships Tampere, Finland 2nd 4 × 100 m relay 44.271
2019 World Relays Yokohama, Japan 10th (h) 4 × 100 m relay 44.02 SB
European Youth Olympic Festival Baku, Azerbaijan 1st 100 m 11.70
1st 200 m 23.92
2021 European U20 Championships Tallinn, Estonia 1st 100 m 11.34
1st 200 m 22.90 EU20L NR
5th 4 × 400 m relay 3:37.39
2022 World Championships Eugene, OR, United States 9th (sf) 400 m 50.81
8th 4 × 400 m mixed 3:13.881
European Championships Munich, Germany 5th 400 m 50.53 NR
6th 4 × 400 m relay 3:26.63
2023 World Championships Budapest, Hungary 4th 400 m 50.13

1Time from the heats; Adeleke was replaced in the final.

National and NCAA titles

References
  1. Foley, Cliona (6 January 2019). Rhasidat Adeleke | Career goals, Athletics Ireland, support system, European gold, high performance. Off The Ball. Retrieved 16 July 2021 – via YouTube.
  2. Dodge, John (18 October 2018). "What A Year! Here Are All The Irish Medals Our Sports Stars Have Won In 2018". balls.ie. Archived from the original on 1 November 2018.
  3. "The Irish teen with the world at her feet".
  4. O'Riordan, Ian (29 July 2017). "Three reasons to be cheerful for the future of Irish athletics Gina Akpe-Moses, Patience Jumbo-Gula and Rhasidat Adeleke represent new generation". The Irish Times. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  5. O'Keeffe, Alan (22 July 2018). "'I gave it all I had,' says Rhasidat (15) of her golden run". Independent.ie. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  6. "The Irish teen with the world at her feet". The 42. 3 January 2022. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  7. "15-year-old Rhasidat Adeleke storms to 200m gold for Ireland at European Championships". The42.ie. 7 July 2018. Archived from the original on 7 July 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  8. "4 x 100 Metres Relay Women – Final – Results" (PDF). IAAF. 14 July 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  9. O'Riordan, Ian (21 July 2021). "Ireland's Rhasidat Adeleke wins European sprint double". The Irish Times. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  10. O'Riordan, Ian (26 June 2021). "Rhasidat Adeleke shines again to stake her claim for Olympics place". The Irish Times. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  11. "Rhasidat Adeleke sprints to gold in 100m at European U20 Championships". RTÉ Sport. 16 February 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  12. "Paris Scholarship Recipients in Profile". Olympic Federation of Ireland. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  13. Cassidy, Rory. "Rhasidat Adeleke Finishes Fifth In European 400m Final". Balls.ie. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  14. "Rhasidat Adeleke breaks Irish 400m record with fifth-placed finish in European final". The 42. 16 August 2022. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  15. "Rhasidat Adeleke breaks Irish record and runs world's fastest 200m this year". The Irish Times. 22 January 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  16. "Dubliner Adeleke smashes Irish 400m record". BBC Sport. 4 February 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  17. O'Riordan, Ian (26 February 2023). "Rhasidat Adeleke breaks Irish 400m record with second fastest time in world this year". The Irish Times. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  18. "Weekend Recap: All-Time Marks Canvas Conference Championships Weekend". USTFCCCA. 25 February 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  19. "Adeleke wins NCAA indoors 400m silver medal in US". BBC Sport. 12 March 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  20. O'Riordan, Ian (13 March 2023). "Rhasidat Adeleke going where no Irish athlete has gone before". The Irish Times. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  21. "Women's Sprint Medley Relay breaks collegiate record at the 95th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays". Texas Longhorns. 31 March 2023. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  22. "Texas Relays notebook: Longhorns set meet record in 400-meter relay". Austin American-Statesman. 1 April 2023. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  23. O'Riordan, Ian (15 April 2023). "Rhasidat Adeleke breaks 50-second barrier for 400m with stunning run in Florida". The Irish Times. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  24. O'Riordan, Ian (14 May 2023). "Rhasidat Adeleke helps University of Texas lower their American collegiate record in 4x100m relay". The Irish Times. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  25. O'Riordan, Ian (28 May 2023). "Rhasidat Adeleke breaks Irish 400 metre record again at NCAA West Regionals". The Irish Times. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  26. Team, The 42 (9 June 2023). "Rhasidat Adeleke continues superb season with medal bid at NCAA Championships". The 42. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  27. "Rhasidat Adeleke wins NCAA Championships gold with record run". RTE News. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  28. "Rhasidat Adeleke claims another Irish record in sensational 400m win at NCAA championships". The Irish Times. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  29. "Irish athlete Rhasidat Adeleke announces she is turning professional". The Irish Times. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  30. Allen, Greg (18 July 2023). "Adeleke second in first run as a professional".
  31. "Mageean smashes Irish mile record in Monaco". 21 July 2023.
  32. "Programme 2023". DiamondLeague.com. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  33. "Adeleke and Mawdsley scorch into 400m semi-finals at World Championships". TheJournal.ie. 20 August 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  34. "Adeleke powers into World Championships 400m final". 21 August 2023.
  35. "World Athletics Championships, Budapest 2023 | Results". WorldAthletics.org. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  36. "FINAL | 400 Metres | Results | Budapest 23 | World Athletics Championships". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  37. "Adeleke sights on Paris Olympics after fourth at Worlds". RTÉ Sport. 23 August 2023.
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