“I worked so hard for this” – Adeleke delighted after Youth Olympic gold win
By Stephen Leonard
TALLAGHT Athletic Club’s Rhasidat Adeleke spoke to The Echo of her joy at winning 100m gold at the European Youth Olympics Festival in Baku on Tuesday evening.
Storming to victory in a time 11.70, the European Under 18 200m champion could not contain her delight at her latest achievement.
Tallaght Athletic Club’s Rhasidat Adeleke storms over the finish line to take gold in the Women’s 100m at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Baku.
“I was pretty confident that I could execute my race well so it was just whether I would get a medal” said the 16-year-old athlete.
“I was so happy. It was just relief, because I had worked so hard for this.
“It was so cool to do it in a different event because I normally race in the 200m. And to get a gold was just amazing.”
It was a powerful performance by Adeleke, and she was back out on the track the following day, dominating her heat in the Girl’s 200m to win in a time of 24.36, securing her place in this evening’s final with the joint second fastest time.
Having taken silver in this very event in 2017, she will be hoping to go one step better on that today.
“I’d love to do the double” she told The Echo. “That’s been my goal coming to this competition. I felt relaxed and excited in the [200m] heat after having won the 100m.
The Tallaght competitor is one of Ireland’s top sprinting prospects and really caught the spotlight last year when she won gold in the European Under 18 200m in Hungary before flying out to Finland where she helped the Ireland Women’s 4x100m Relay team to silver in the World Under 20 Championships.
Athletics Ireland’s National Sprints Coordinator, Daniel Kilgallon who trains Adeleke as part of an elite group of sprinters in Tallaght AC was delighted with her performance in Baku.
“Rhasidat is some competitor” he said. “I was speaking to her before the race and I told her that if she could execute the race well, particularly over the first 20, 30 metres, she’d be there or there abouts.”
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