Rhasidat Adeleke arrived home quietly yesterday (Saturday) to applause to those in Dublin Airport who recognised her. (Image: Cecil Johnson)
Rhasidat Adeleke arrives home
Rhasidat Adeleke arrived home quietly yesterday (Saturday) to applause to those in Dublin Airport who recognised her.
The silver medalist in the European Athletics Championships 200m signed some autographs and was happy to pose for photos.
She was accompanied by Cecil Johnson of Tallaght Athletic Club.
In what has been a difficult season for Rhasidat she stormed home in the 200m final to take the silver medal showing the talent this young Tallaght sprinter possesses.
She can now focus on the next stages of her career and look forward to the LA Olympics in 2028.
Only just qualifying in the last attempt at the National Championships she defied her recent form with a new Irish Record in the European final.
Speaking to RTE after the race she said,
“I think initially, as soon as I crossed the line, my initial thought was, ‘oh, I didn’t win’.
“And I had to bring it back to who I now want to be. I don’t want to be that person anymore.
“I want to find gratitude in everything. So as soon as that sank in, I realised I broke the national record.
“From where I came from this season, even last season, I have nothing else to do but be grateful, honestly.
“It just means so much to me, just knowing the journey.
‘I know I don’t show everything that I do and everything I go through, but I think even showing snippets now is really helpful because it almost alleviates that stress a bit, because people are asking, ‘what’s going on?’
“‘Why aren’t you running this and that?’
“And I’m just internalising everything, and it’s so heavy to carry.
“And now I just want to be free. I want to be happy. I want to enjoy this sport.
“It’s given me so much. I want to give it so much. And yeah, I’m just really grateful.”
