Adeleke opens with a win to coast into world semi-final
UP AND RUNNING: Rhasidat Adeleke opened her World Championships with a statement this morning, the 20-year-old Dubliner coasting to victory in her 400m heat in 50.80 seconds. Pic: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile
Starting as she means to go on, Rhasidat Adeleke opened her World Championships with a statement this morning, the 20-year-old Dubliner coasting to victory in her 400m heat in 50.80 seconds.
For Adeleke, there was no need to do anymore, the Tallaght sprinter running well within herself through the opening half before shifting steadily through the gears on the final turn, reeling in and then running away from longtime leader Helena Ponette of Belgium.
Adeleke walked off the track with her mouth closed, the sign of an athlete running fully under control, not gasping for air like many of her competitors. Her time was the slowest of all six heat winners, though this was never about the clock, only about surviving and advancing with utmost ease, maximum efficiency. That she did.
“That was one of the easiest 50.8s I’ve ran – it felt really good, really controlled,” she said. Adeleke said she “fell asleep” during the opening 200m, “then coming around the bend I was like, ‘where am I?’ Then I started picking them up.”
As the leading Irish medal hope at the championships, there’s no doubt she’s aware of the growing hope and expectation at home, not that it bothers her. “Honestly, I have a lot of expectation on myself so it’s not new,” she said. “I try to block out all the external noise and focus on myself. I can’t control what anyone else does or what anyone else thinks.”
She will return to the track just after 8pm tomorrow for the semi-final, where a top-two finish is needed to ensure a place in Wedneday’s final. “Having an evening race is much better,” she said. “I had to get up so early and I didn’t really get any sleep the last couple of nights.”
The race came 10 weeks after Adeleke shot to stardom by winning the NCAA 400m title in 49.20, and four weeks after her last outing in Monaco, where she was below her best with 49.99. How have things gone since? “It’s been hectic, we’re at that point of the season there’s a lot of fatigue, my body has had some niggles I needed to get right before coming out here.” Her goal in Budapest? “To give it my all,” she smiled.
Adeleke’s medal chances appear stronger than ever after the heats, where there was a shock exit from Britton Wilson, the US star who was ranked second fastest in the field. Wilson finished eighth in her heat in 53.87.
Meanwhile, gold medal favourite Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic led the way with a comfortable 49.90, while last year’s world bronze medallist Sada Williams of Barbados looked astonishingly easy when clocking 50.78, easing down, to win her heat.
Sharlene Mawdsley shook off the fatigue of two rounds of the mixed relay yesterday to smash her PB and finish fourth in her 400m heat in 51.17, which advanced her to the semi-finals on time. The Newport athlete turned in two superb anchor legs yesterday to help the Irish team to sixth in the world final, splitting 50.14 in the morning and 50.02 in the evening.
Chris O’Donnell was also back on track for the individual 400m, having run two legs for the mixed relay in the previous 24 hours, the Sligo sprinter bowing out after finishing seventh in 46.76.
Kate O’Connor jumped 5.74m in the heptathlon long jump, which demoted her to 15th place in the standings after five events, but the Dundalk native is expected to improve in this afternoon’s javelin – her strongest event.
Kate O’Connor, heptathlon javelin
: Ciara Mageean, women’s 1500m semi-final
: Sarah Healy, women’s 1500m semi-final
: Kate O'Connor, heptathlon 800,
Live, Virgin Media Two, 6.05am, 3.25pm; BBC Two, 8am; BBC One, 3pm
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