Rhasidat Adeleke: Irish track queen concludes European Championships as one of the most decorated athletes

Rhasidat Adeleke won the 400m silver medal at the 2024 European Championships // @irishathletics

Rhasidat Adeleke: Irish track queen concludes European Championships as one of the most decorated athletes

Funmilayo Fameso 16:21 - 13.06.2024

Nigerian-Irish speedster Rhasidat Adeleke broke records to end the European Athletics Championships as one of the outstanding performers.

Irish track sensation Rhasidat Adeleke was one of the standout performers at the 2024 European Athletics Championships in Rome, which saw her sign out as one of the most decorated athletes.

The 21-year-old competed in three events and medalled in all, handing Ireland their best European Championship outing in history.

Rhasidat Adeleke

To set the medals rolling for her historic outing, Adeleke inspired her team of Christopher O’Donnell, Thomas Barr, and Sharlene Mawdsley to the mixed 4x400m gold in a National Record (NR) and Championship Record (CR) of 3:09.92. Her split of 49.53s played a vital role in the victory - Ireland's first-ever title in the event.

Photo Credit - @SportsfileSam

In the women's 400m final, she was pipped to gold by just 0.09 seconds as Poland's Natalia Kaczmarek unleashed a sensational CR of 48.98s to take the title.

Adeleke's time of 49.09s shaved 0.15 seconds off her previous PB and NR in just her first race of the season in the event, and the times recorded by her and Kaczmarek were the fastest by any European athlete this century over the one-lap distance.

Finally, to cap off her impeccable performances, the 2023 NCAA Champion joined Sophie Becker, Phil Healy, and Mawdsley as they blazed to a superb second-place finish in the women's 4x400m relay final also in a new NR of 3:22.71.

Rhasidat Adeleke and the Irish 4x400m silver medal winning squad

In all, Adeleke ended the European Championships as the second best-performing athlete with a gold and two silver medals, in addition to three new Irish National Records.

Her next major competition will be the Paris Olympic Games, where she'll be gunning to secure medals in her individual event and the relays.

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