Rhasidat Adeleke: It’s so easy to forget the good days when something bad happens

Irish record holder, Rhasidat Adeleke. Pic: INPHO/Dan Sheridan

Rhasidat Adeleke has had a lot to celebrate lately between her recent decision to turn professional, a contract with Nike and becoming the first Irish sprinter to win a National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) title.

Currently busy competing and training, the 20-year-old has her sights set on the 2024 Olympics in Paris. In the meantime, the Dubliner is looking forward to marking another important event.

“My birthday is coming up so I’m trying to see if I can plan anything for that,” she says. “It’s around the time school starts so it’s kind of hard [to organise everyone].”

The sprinter has been based in Austin, Texas, and attending university there for the past three years. While she recently announced her decision to go pro and forego her final year of eligibility at the University of Texas, Adeleke has said she will remain in Lone Star State next year.

Her past three years at the university have been hugely successful, right up to breaking her 400m record this summer at the NCAA Championships. In announcing her decision to go pro, she gave a special thanks to “everyone who supported me along the way and those who helped me become who I am today”..

• Rhasidat Adeleke is an ambassador for Allianz, the global and local insurance partner of the Olympics.
  

How do you keep fit?

I train with my coach Edrick Floréal. When I’m not with him in the US, I do the programme that he sends me.

Do you have a morning routine?

When I’m in Texas during the season, Tuesdays and Thursdays would be my longest days. I’d wake up around 6am, go to do weights in the morning and then go to class after that.

In between, I’d get breakfast and I’d get lunch and then I would go to training around 2pm. We might have a team meeting after training around 5pm and then I would go home and get food and then I would chill for the rest of the day.

What is one thing you do every day?

Pray.

What are your healthiest eating habits?

Eating porridge every morning.

What are your guiltiest pleasures?

Probably whenever I eat fast food like pizza or Chick-fil-A, the American fast-food chain.

What keeps you awake at night?

When I have too much going on and I’m thinking about it before I go to bed. That would keep me up.

How do you relax?

When I want to relax, I put on a Netflix show, or FaceTime with my friends.

Pic: INPHO/Dan Sheridan

Who are your sporting heroes?

Katie Taylor was someone who I looked up to when I was coming up in sports. When she won gold at the 2012 summer Olympics, that was definitely one of my favourite sporting moments.

What is your favourite smell?

Vanilla.

When was the last time you cried?

Probably when I won gold at the NCAA Championships in June.

What is the best health advice you’ve ever been given?

Hydrate.

What traits do you least like in others?

People that don’t know when to stop talking.

What traits do you least like about yourself?

My time-management skills.

What cheers you up if you’re having a bad day?

Talking to my friends or family cheers me up. Or getting something really good to eat.

Who would you invite to your dream dinner party?

I’d probably just invite anyone who is funny. Probably just my funniest friends. I know some people would probably say celebrities but I don’t get into celebrities that much.

What quote inspires you most and why?

I think just to thank God on the good days and the bad days. It’s so easy to forget the good days when something bad happens and then you forget how blessed you are compared to other people. It’s kind of like [the term] ‘first world problems’ — you get bogged down on something so minute but there are larger issues in life.

Where is your favourite place in the world?

My bed.