Rhasidat Adeleke, the Dublin sprinter, once again demonstrated her capacity for unpredictability by running one of the quickest 400-metre splits in championship history, leading her Irish team to victory during the World Athletics Relays in the Bahamas. Although the primary focus of this competition was Olympic qualification, Adeleke’s spectacular performance ensured a showstopper conclusion for the Irish squad, who secured a bronze medal in the thrilling mixed 4×400 metre final, battling it out with the United States and the Netherlands.
The Irish team – comprised of Cillin Greene, Sharlene Mawdsley, Thomas Barr and Adeleke herself, once again shattered their national record, finishing the race in 3:11.53. Adeleke, in her pivotal second leg, registered a split time of 48.45 seconds, a record-breaking feat during the World Relays, as well as being quicker than Bahamas’ Shaunae Miller-Uibo, the current Olympic 400 metre champion, and Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino, the current World 400 metre champion.
The young 21-year-old Adeleke said post-race, “It was important for me to give Thomas Barr the best possible platform to continue our race. I managed to overtake a couple of competitors and trusted Thomas to hold strong and for Sharlene to have a great finish. I’m so grateful for my team.”
On the day following their heat championship victory, the American relay team broke the record again, securing victory in the final with a time of 3:10.73, a feat never before achieved outside of a global championship. The team was led by Matthew Boling, with Lynna Irby-Jackson handing over to Adeleke on the chase. Kendall Ellis secured victory, following a brief breather provided by Willington Wright during the third leg. Sharlene Mawdsley commented enthusiastically on the team’s achievements, describing the day as an excellent start to the Olympic season.
Following closely behind, the runner from the Netherlands, Femke Bol, managed to fend off Mawdsley’s effort to secure the second position with a time of 3:11.45, just infinitesimally ahead of Ireland by 0.08 seconds. Mawdsley, a youthful 25-year-old from Tipperary, concurrent to Adeleke, expressed an optimism for this promising commencement to the Olympic season, as well as to her third consecutive racing day, “We couldn’t wish for anything more today, I am thoroughly going to treasure this”.
Even though a podium position eluded Nigeria, their effort was nonetheless recognised with a new African record time of 3:12.87. An immensely elated Greene stated that the final time was indeed an improvement on the previous 3:12.50 from Saturday, exclaiming “It’s out of this world, It’s dream stuff…We never anticipated this, our happiness knows no bounds”.
In light of the fact that 893 of the most esteemed sprinters from a total of 54 countries had congregated at Nassau, their prime objective was to qualify for the Paris, a goal which both the Irish women’s 4×400 metres and mixed 4×400 metres relay managed to achieve stunningly during Saturday’s heats. These have gone down as two of the most commendable relay performances in the annals of Irish Athletics. The sentiment was echoed by a team member who stated “We have all fiercely rallied together and given it our all…We always pack a powerful punch for our size, this is quite an achievement for us”.
After the electrifying run, within merely half an hour, the women’s 4×400 metre team plunged into their finals eying a podium finish. They clinched the seventh position with a timing of 3:30.9, the gold medal was scooped by the US with a time of 3:21.70. The initial phase of the relay was executed by Phil Healy who clocked 52.38, followed by Róisín Harrison with a time of 53.27, then Lauren Cadden with 53.09, and finally Sophie Becker brought it to a close with an impressive 52.21-second leg.
Adeleke played a crucial role in securing wins during Saturday’s heats where only the top two advanced directly to Paris, leaving the others to vie for the remaining spots in Sunday’s repechage rounds. Her remarkable performance further solidified her position as one of the world’s most thrilling one-lap runners.
On the male side, Jack Raftery and Christopher O’Donnell were part of the team while Roisin Harrison, Lauren Cadden, and Rachal McCann were selected for the women’s team. Their next challenge is to carry this momentum into the European Athletics Championships in Rome come June.
Looking beyond that, Paris calls.