Making her mark in the Olympic stage, the Dublin based sprinter, Rhasidat Adeleke, commendably sprinted a flawless single lap in the State de France, successfully advancing to the women’s 400 metres semi-finals. Evidently relaxing just before reaching the finish line, Adeleke triumphed with a time of 50.09, outstripping USA’s Alexis Holmes who placed second with 50.35.
The clock struck 12:30 pm local time as Adeleke emerged for her last of the six heats. Starting off in lane six, she impressively sprinted the first 200m, placing her significantly ahead of her competitors and thereby concluding her day’s run. A moment of apprehension occurred following a botched start by Nicole Caicedo, leading to her dismissal.
Adeleke’s personal best and Irish record of 49.07, which was achieved during her victorious run at the Rome European Championships the month prior, remained unsurpassed in all six heats. She was listed as the seventh quickest overall.
The top three of each heat proceed directly to Wednesday evening’s semi-finals (8.45pm Irish time), meanwhile the others will proceed to the new repechage round scheduled Tuesday morning (10.20am Irish time).
It’s noteworthy that for the inaugural time in the history of the Olympics, Ireland has successfully filled the individual quota of three women for the 400m – with the third spot just eluding Sharlene Mawdsley, who clocked a personal best of 50.71, coming in fourth in her heat.
Heat one saw Sophie Becker pitted against the likes of 2019 World champion Salwa Eid Naser from Bahrain. As anticipated, Naser emerged victorious, setting the tone with the first sub-50 time of the heats, clocking 49.91.
Marileidy Paulino from the Dominican Republic, the 2023 World champion, also competed in heat five against Mawdsley. Paulino demonstrated an impressive performance, winning with 49.42 and remaining unchallenged, thus making her the fastest qualifier. Mawdsley, however, failed to secure a semi-final spot.
In the most recent Diamond League event in London, Nickisha Pryce, the 23-year-old Jamaican athlete, came out victorious. She established a new national record with the world’s fastest timing of 48.57 this year, and effortlessly secured her second victory here in 50.02, leaving behind Britain’s Laviai Nielson, who clocked in at 50.52.
During the third heat, Amber Anning of Britain showed promising performance, securing a win with a timing of 49.68. She was followed by Lieke Klaver from the Netherlands, who completed the heat in 49.96, after winning a gold in the 4x400m mixed relay on Saturday night.
The fourth heat saw Poland’s European Champion Natalia Kaczmarek triumphing with a sub-50 timing of 49.98. Contrariwise, two-time defending champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo from the Bahamas had to withdraw last month due to an injury. Despite this, she did participate in the fourth heat but pulled up after 150m, evidently not at her peak. Therefore, the title of Olympic champion in this particular sport will see a new face for the first time since 2012.
The intensity is expected to rise further during the semi-finals, as the lane draws for Friday’s final will also be decided.
Stay tuned for more updates…