Rhasidat Adeleke finished fourth in the 400m final at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest on Wednesday evening.
Just as it was for Ciara Mageean on Tuesday night, the Tallaght sprinter narrowly missed out on a medal as she battled down the home straight.
Running from lane four, Adeleke finished in 50.13, nearly a second off her personal best and Irish record. The gold was won by Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic in a national record of 48.76, while Natalia Kaczmarek of Poland took silver in 49.57 and Sada Williams of Barbados the bronze in 49.60.
Adeleke was the first Irish athlete to reach an outdoor World Championships sprint final since 2009.
Remarkably, the 20-year-old's 400m career only really began a year ago when she finished fifth in the final at the European Championships, running what was then an Irish national record of 50.53. It was then that Adeleke realised the 400m, rather than 200m, might be the distance for her.
A month before those championships in Munich, Adeleke had made her World Championships debut in Eugene, Oregon when she just missed out on making the 400m final.
20 August 2023; Rhasidat Adeleke of Ireland celebrates after winning her women's 400m heat during day two of the World Athletics Championships at National Athletics Centre in Budapest, Hungary. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile
Adeleke has been in astonishing form this year. In June, she won the NCAA Division 1 title as she lowered her Irish record to 49.20 in Austin, Texas.
In March, Adeleke said that she still wasn't sure of her "limits" in the 400m.
"Most people who have been running the event for years, they know what their pace is, they can strategise and say ‘OK, if I go out this fast, I’ll able to finish up this fast because this is usually how fast I finish'," she said.
"I’m still not familiar with what my limits are so I might go out a little bit slow, I might go out a bit slower than I actually can and that’s definitely something I’m working on, to be able to understand my body and understand how fast I can go without tensing up too much.
"I definitely do think I have a long way to go. I can see it with the training, I just started the training in October and it’s definitely been hard but I feel like I’m getting better, I’m getting stronger."
Last month, Adeleke announced that she would be forgoing her final year of eligibility for the University of Texas to turn professional and run for Nike.
See Also: Ciara Mageean Finishes Fourth In 1500m World Final
