Rhasidat Adeleke to return to the 400m tonight

Tallaght native Rhasidat Adeleke is making her return to the 400m tonight in the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon after not racing in her preferred event for over a year.

Her 2025 season was riddled with injuries and even saw her pull out of the Tokyo World Championships that were held last September.

Adeleke has now fallen out of the world rankings for the 400m, her highest placing having been third place after she won silver at the 2024 European Championships and set a new Irish record with a time of 49.07.

The only Irish woman to ever run below 50 seconds for the event, Adeleke has been unable to capture her 2024 form that saw her win three medals at the European Championships as well as two fourth place finishes at the Paris Olympics.

Tonight in Eugene she likely will not be back to her previous best given her extended hiatus away from the event, rather she will be focused on achieving a time of 51.20 or faster.

This is the minimum qualifying standard for the 2026 European Championships being held in Birmingham later on in the summer.

While this time would have been easily achievable in the past it is difficult to say what condition she is currently in given the lack of 400m races we have seen from Adeleke over the last year or so.

A 51.20 finish would be the perfect foundation to allow her to peak for Birmingham in five weeks time.