Olympics 24: Rhasidat ‘excited’ to reach Olympic final

Tallaght’s Rhasidat Adeleke advanced to the final of the Women’s 400m in the Stade de France on Wednesday night.

In doing so the Tallaght athlete makes history by becoming the first Irish female sprinter ever to qualify for an Olympic final.

Adeleke, who was racing in the first of three semi-finals on Wednesday, clocked a time of 49.95 seconds to finish second behind Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain in a seasons best of 49.08.

21-year-old Adeleke will now look ahead to Friday’s final where she knows that she has room for improvement.

“It was very messy, a very messy race. I’m just really excited that I’m able to get into the final, and fix everything for what I need” she said.

“At first he [the starter] held us really long, I think I was ready to go then but when we went again I feel like I was thinking about it too much, and I didn’t execute my first 200m like I should have.

“They are all things we can fix for the final. I think I also panicked a little bit which made me break form really early but no I’m excited. I’ve made the final – now I can give it my best shot.

“I’ve been in a place where the round may not have went as I wanted it to, but the final went great so I’m not too worried about it.”

Adeleke was given the loudest cheer of all when introduced pre-race and praised the support.

“It was unreal again today, when I got into the blocks I was like ‘let’s do this’ and hopefully it’s going to be the same for the final, I’m sure it will be. I’m so grateful to everyone – it means so much.”

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