Rhasidat Adeleke booked her place in the women's 400m final at the Olympics last night, although it's fair to say that the Irishwoman was not at her devastating best for the semi-final in Paris.
The Dubliner came into this summer's Olympics under a massive weight of expectation, with many expecting her to compete for a medal in the 400m. Her form over the last 12 months certainly suggested that it was possible, although she hasn't quite produced her best form during her opening two races.
Having cruised to victory in her heat and slowed down with 50 metres or so still to go, her showing in last night's semi-final was not quite as impressive. Adeleke would labour to second place, finishing well behind Salwa Eid Naser in first.
Rhasidat Adeleke advances to the final of the women’s 400m with a second-place finish (49.95) in a semi-final heat won by Salwa Eid Naser (49.08) #RTESport #Paris2024
📱Updates https://t.co/qupZp4QZEF
📺 Watch https://t.co/XnOP6grnB7 pic.twitter.com/jvBZ3Ns7rB— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 7, 2024
Rhasidat Adeleke will certainly be looking to improve on this performance in Friday's final, although she will no doubt be confident that she can lower her time by quite a bit.
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O'Rourke Had Theory On Rhasidat Adeleke Semi-Final Performance
While Rhasidat Adeleke recorded the sixth fastest time among those to qualify for the women's 400m final at the Olympics, she has been given a rather kind lane draw for Friday's race after being placed in lane 4.
She will need to improve her performance quite a bit for that race if she hopes of winning a medal, although some are not all that concerned about her display in last night's contest.
Speaking on RTÉ after the race, Derval O'Rourke suggested that Adeleke may well have been conserving a bit of energy towards the end of the race and allowed Naser to break away from the field. That would mean her overall performance was not as concerning as it may have appeared.
‘Did she forget about her own race a little bit? The main job was securing a place in the final’ - @DervalORourke assesses Rhasidat Adeleke’s performance in making the women’s 400m final#RTESport #Paris2024
📱Updates https://t.co/qupZp4QZEF
📺 Watch https://t.co/XnOP6grnB7 pic.twitter.com/uAuvqIJfWQ— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 7, 2024
To me, I think Naser ran a really tactical and technically excellent race. She has pedigree, this is the 2019 world champ. When she won that in 2019 she was incredibly dominant, running away from fields like the way she is back doing now.
For me, Naser was in the lane inside Rhasidat and no doubt worked off her for the first 100 or 120 metres.
Rhasidat would have felt that straight away and you just wonder was she having a moment of reacting to that and forget about her own race a little bit and start getting into a race with Naser?
For me, the main job was she needed to secure a place in the final in those top two places, that is really important in terms of lane draw. She did that.
It's very hard to know, this whole was she laboured or was she not, it's hard to know. It was clear to hear that Naser was gone. You could see with 80m to go when Rhasidat may have come back, Naser kicked on, she was gone and started putting a lot of margin between her and that field.
Then it's just hold your position in second, maintain that position, and just be safe. Being safe for the final, you can't underestimate that. That is a massive achievement and she was mature enough to get that.
Rhasidat Adeleke is certainly still in the frame for the medals at these Olympics, having been one of the most consistent performers in this event over the last 12 months.
Here's hoping for another big performance on Friday night, with the race taking place around 7pm Irish time.
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