Record-breaker Adeleke claims superb European silver in 200m final
ALL SMILES: Rhasidat Adeleke of Ireland celebrates after finishing second with time 22.28 and winning the silver medal in the women's 200m final during day four of the European Athletics Championships 2026 at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, England. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile
Just call her the comeback queen. Three weeks ago, it seemed unlikely that Rhasidat Adeleke would even make it to Birmingham, such were the series of difficulties that had blighted her season, fleecing her of that natural brilliance.
But now here she was, winning a European silver medal in such stunning fashion, smashing her own national record over 200m and clocking 22.28 (0.7m/s).
Gold went to Britain’s Amy Hunt, who completed the sprint double in 22.19, while bronze went to Adeleke’s former training partner in Texas, Dina Asher-Smith of Britain, in 22.29.
With this medal, Adeleke joins Sonia O’Sullivan as the only Irish athlete to have won European Championship medals at two different individual disciplines, added to her 400m silver in Rome two years ago.
It came against the backdrop of a challenging year, Adeleke picking up two hamstring strains that each cost her four weeks of training. She returned to action after the second of those at the Eugene Diamond League in early July, clocking an understandably sub-par 52.26 for 400m. That simply wasn’t going to cut it.
Not long after that, she switched her focus to the 200m, securing qualification for the Europeans with a clutch run on her final chance at the nationals in Santry, routing the field and clocking 22.80 into a stiff headwind.
From there, she had 18 days until she lined up for the European 200m semi-final on Wednesday night and Adeleke used each of them to maximum effect, ironing out some physical issues under the guidance of Martina McCarthy and Ciara McCallion at the Sport Ireland Institute in Dublin, her coach Edrick Floreal steering the ship from afar.
She looked a stronger, more confident athlete as she blasted to victory in the semi-final in 22.43, securing a plum lane draw alongside Hunt, the race favourite, for the final. And the Tallaght native duly delivered the medal that had seemed so unlikely.
“There were times when I didn’t think I’d be able to come back but I just keep believing in myself and this is what happens,” she told the crowd in her trackside interview. “I want to thank everyone who came out to support – you don’t understand how impactful it is, how your cheers when I came out helped.”
This was a return to her roots, to the pure speed that had underpinned all she achieved over 400m since switching to that event in 2022, and Adeleke’s season is far from done with potential relay appearances later this week, while she is also signed up to compete in the women’s-only Athlos event in September. Some Diamond League appearances may now also await.
Most importantly, she’s back doing what she does best, and looks to be enjoying it more than ever.
As she said: “I think when things aren’t going well, you completely forget who you are,” she said. “I completely forgot who I was, forgot the things that I could do, and I think I let the internal pressure consume me.
“I just said I'm taking things back to basics. I'm going to have fun. I'm going to do the work, do everything I can and outside of that, I can't control that. So that's really been my mindset the last couple of weeks.” Back in the game. Back to her best. And what a sight it is to see.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
