Adeleke comes up short of standard in Lucerne as European Championships loom

Rhasidat Adeleke. Pic: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

With just 10 more days left to qualify for the European Championships in Birmingham, Rhasidat Adeleke came up well short of the required 200m standard in Lucerne, Switzerland on Thursday night, finishing fourth in 23.07 (-0.6m/s).

Running in the outside lane, the Dubliner was looking to run 22.85 or faster to secure her spot at next month’s Europeans and went into the race with a season’s best of 22.86 from April. But on a damp night in the Swiss city, she was well outside that, the race won by Switzerland’s Fabienne Hoenke in 22.78.

The Irish record is the 22.34 that Adeleke ran in 2023. With the qualification window for the Europeans closing on July 27, Adeleke has yet to secure the standard over 200m or 400m. She is due to race next over 400m in Heusden, Belgium on Saturday, while her final chance to qualify will come the following weekend at the nationals in Dublin.

Sharlene Mawdsley, meanwhile, continued her strong recent form with a fourth-place finish over 400m in Madrid, the Tipperary sprinter clocking 50.46 in a race won by Italy’s Anna Polinari in 50.36. 

Mawdsley has been knocking on the door of a sub-50-second clocking this year, lowering her PB to 50.06 last month, well below the automatic 400m standard for the Europeans of 51.20.

Benjamin Richardson, who recently transferred his allegiance from South Africa to Ireland, came home third in the 100m in Lucerne, clocking 10.06 (0.0m/s). While that is quicker than Israel Olatunde’s Irish record of 10.08, it will not be ratified as a national record as he will only be eligible to represent Ireland from August 2027.

Emma Moore finished fourth in the B 800m in Lucerne, clocking 2:03.64. Lauren Roy finished seventh in the 100m in 11.41 (-0.1m/s), while former European U-20 long jump champion Elizabeth Ndudi was seventh in the long jump with 6.24m.