Rhasidat Adeleke confirms she will run Olympic 4x400m relay final on Saturday

The 21-year-old Dubliner finished fourth in the women's 400m final at the Stade de France but said she is ‘excited’ to join her Ireland teammates 24 hours later (8.14pm Irish time). 

NOT DONE YET: Rhasidat Adeleke of Team Ireland after the women's 400m final. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Rhasidat Adeleke has confirmed she will run in the Olympic final of the 4x400m women’s relay on Saturday night after she narrowly missed out on an Olympic medal in the women’s 400 final.

The 21-year-old Dubliner finished fourth in the women's 400m final at the Stade de France but said she is ‘excited’ to join her Ireland teammates in 24 hours time (8.14pm Irish time). 

The Irish women’s 4x400m quartet of Sophie Becker, Phil Healy, Kelly McGrory and Sharlene Mawdsley produced an outstanding performance to finish third in their heat earlier.

“Yeah, absolutely I think it is another opportunity to get here and give it my all,” she said.

Adeleke was determined to use the disappointment as motivation moving forward.

“You win some, you lose some. It is all about showing up on the day and today just wasn’t my day.

“I just appreciate absolutely everybody who’s been showing up for me, everyone who has been supporting me. I appreciate my whole team, my coach, my family, my whole support team, so much.

“I didn’t achieve my dreams today but in the future, I just hope that there are more podiums up there and I’ll be able to perform at my best when it’s most important.” 

Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain, who served a two-year ban between 2021 and 2023 for missing drug tests, took silver in 48.53. When asked, Adeleke said she did not have thoughts on that.

“No. Each athlete to their own. All I know is I do my very best. I train hard, I work hard and I hope every other athlete does the same.” 

Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic won gold and set a new Olympic record with a time of 48.17. Poland’s Natalia Kaczmarek collected bronze in 48.98 while the Irish sprinter hit the line in 49.28.

Paulino is 27 years old. The other two on the podium are 26. All three were faster over the last 50 metres.

“Honestly I think there are times where I have had that last 50m,” she said. “There are times where I haven’t. It really just depends on how the rest of the race goes.

“Also maybe it comes down to me being more patient and not kicking as early. At the end of the day, I think it comes with experience.

“I also think there is so much more to come in the 400m, so much more experience, so many more races to be able to learn how I should run my race the best. 

"I think going forward it is just about repetition and being able to put down a perfect race plan that fits me.”