Quarter-miler Rhasidat Adeleke breaks Ireland’s 100m record
All around Morton Stadium, the feeling was the same: They’d never seen anything like this. Not just what they witnessed on the track – an Irishwoman blitzing 100 meters in 11.13 seconds, by far the fastest in history – but what they saw alongside it: several thousand fans thronging this old stadium, with a new, fresh energy running right through Irish athletics.
Rhasidat Adeleke felt it the moment she walked out for the women’s 100m final. By then, everyone had found their vantage point, navigating the North Dublin traffic and the lack of local parking to catch a glimpse of one of Irish sport’s brightest stars.
“Seeing everyone out here is phenomenal, I don’t remember there being a crowd like this at nationals,” said Adeleke. “Having them all cheer me on when they called my name at the start I was like, ‘I want to put on a show and do something special.’”
That she did, Adeleke exploding from the blocks and leaving most of her rivals in a different postcode. The one Irish sprint record she didn’t have, indoors or outdoors, was the 100m mark, set by Sarah Lavin last year at 11.27. But Adeleke didn’t so much break it as utterly demolish it, producing the kind of outlying performance that speaks to her seemingly limitless potential.
Her 11.13, aided by a gentle tailwind of 0.7m/s, saw her hit the line a few meters clear of Lavin, who clocked 11.37, the Emerald athlete adding silver to the 100m hurdles gold on Saturday. But this day belonged to Adeleke, who spent hours fulfilling autograph and photo requests with legions of adoring young fans afterward.
Rhasidat Adeleke speaks after smashing the Irish 100m record
“I love competing at home for nationals; it’s so special,” said Adeleke, who needed a slew of Gardaí to marshal her through the hordes of youngsters after the race. “That was the most special, not even the national record, but everyone cheering my name. It’s a visualisation of the support I have and it just goes so far because seeing them here, physically, and people traveled so far from different counties to come to watch. I just really appreciate it.”
It was her last race on Irish soil ahead of the Olympics, with Adeleke completing a short training camp in Sweden this week before races in Monaco (July 12) and London (July 20) – one of which will be a 400m. She said no decision has yet been made on the mixed relay, which comes before the individual 400m at the Games. One certain thing: her speed is right where she wants it to be.
“My coach always reminds me in everything I do, it’s focused on the Olympics,” she said. “I’m really happy to run like that considering I’ve been training for the longer stuff. I’m still in my block of 400m training.”
