Adeleke stuns with indoor record, English shows medal ambition

Performance continues a remarkable start to the 2023 season for the Tallaght AC athlete

Rhasidat Adeleke at the 2002 European Championships in Munich, Germany. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

For a long time she’s been touted as special, but never had Rhasidat Adeleke proven it in such supreme, superlative fashion. At the University of New Mexico Collegiate Classic on Saturday, the 20-year-old Dubliner clocked the fastest 400m in history by an Irishwoman, winning in a remarkable 50.45 seconds.

That obliterated the Irish indoor 400m record of 51.58, which had stood to Karen Shinkins since 2022, and was even quicker than Adeleke’s national outdoor record of 50.53. It was the third quickest time in the history of the NCAA; the fastest time in the world this year; and it’s quicker than the winning times in all but three (out of 18) editions of the World Indoor Championships. It is the latest blazing performance in an astonishing start to the season for Adeleke, who last month smashed the Irish indoor 200m record with 22.52 in Albuquerque.