Adeleke falls agonisingly short of World 400m Final

RHASIDAT Adeleke very narrowly missed out on a place in the World Athletics Championship 400m Final in Oregon.

Despite clocking her second fastest time over this distance this season, the Tallaght woman’s 50.81 saw her finish fourth in her heat and ninth overall.

Indeed the 19-year-old athlete missed out on the final by a mere 0.16 seconds in a race that was won by two-time Olympic gold medallist, Shaunae-Miller Uibo of the Bahamas.

Adeleke battled right to the end for that second automatic qualification spot, but was just unable to overhaul Jamaica’s Candice McLeod and Poland’s Anna Kielbasinska who finished second and third respectively.

Despite being denied a spot in the medal race, Adeleke remains one, if not the most, highly-rated competitors in Irish athletics.

In addition to finishing ninth in the world, she has eaten up Irish sprint records this year, setting new national bests in the 60m, 200m, 300m and 400m.

What’s more, she was instrumental in the Ireland Mixed 4x400m Relay team reaching the final at these championships in Oregon last weekend, although she was unable to recover in time for the final in which her team finished eighth.