Ireland's Rhasidat Adeleke storms to silver at NCAA Indoors

The runner-up finish capped a memorable indoor season for Adeleke, who twice smashed the Irish 400m record while also lowering the Irish 200m record to 22.52

RECORD BREAKER: The runner-up finish capped a memorable indoor season for Adeleke, who twice smashed the Irish 400m record. File pic: INPHO/Tom Maher

It was always going to take something special to stop Rhasidat Adeleke, and at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Albuquerque on Saturday night, that’s exactly what US star Britton Wilson produced – the University of Arkansas student running the second fastest indoor 400m of all time, 49.48, to beat Adeleke, who clocked 50.45 to finish second.

In one of the many curiosities of the NCAA system, the 400m final was bizarrely divided into two sections, and due to Adeleke finishing second in her heat on Friday, clocking the third fastest overall time, 51.12, she was placed in the slower section. While that meant she had no one to chase, it also resulted in a better lane than she otherwise would have drawn. From lane five, the Dubliner had an easy passage to the front over the first 200m, which she ripped through with reckless abandon in a blazing 23.07 seconds, the quickest opening lap of an indoor 400m ever run by a woman.