It was a successful morning on the track for Rhasidat Adeleke as she strolled to victory in her heat for the 400m in Paris.
Adeleke was finally able to make her Olympic debut after waiting over a week to begin having elected not to take part in the mixed 4x400m relay and it looks like the waiting might pay off.
The Tallaght woman ran her heat in a time of 50.09 but left plenty in the tank for the semifinal. She got out to an early lead before beginning to ease up with about 150-200m to go.
She was on pace to run a sub-49 seconds time but wisely chose to just assure qualification and not run all out in her first run this Olympics.
5 August 2024; Rhasidat Adeleke of Team Ireland on her way to winning the women's 400m round 1 at the Stade de France during the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
Speaking with RTÉ afterwards, Rhasidat Adeleke spoke through her game plan for the heat and how excited she's been to run, having waited over a week since the opening ceremony to debut at the Olympics.
I felt so good, it was so fun. My coaches said 'run the first 200 and just make sure you're in contention the whole time and just as soon as you can just break off the pace' and I feel like I did that and in the last 200, I was looking around to make sure I'm in contention and it felt really good.
I've been here for a week now and I've been itching to go the last few days. But it's been so good, I've seen all of my teammates compete, they've been doing phenomenally.
There was a big Irish crowd in Paris with plenty of tricolours on display and Adeleke spoke about the immense support at the Stade de France.
No literally I was like: 'Am I at Morton Stadium right now?’ That was amazing, there were so many Irish flags. There’s so many people here supporting.
"It felt so good. It was so fun. Am I at Morton Stadium right now?" Rhasidat Adeleke enjoyed winning her 400m heat in front of a big Irish crowd in Paris
📺 Watch https://t.co/XnOP6grnB7
📱 Updates https://t.co/7J2WfVU0Tm#Paris2024 #olympicgames #olympics pic.twitter.com/vAvBaKMA6y— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 5, 2024
Adeleke now advances to the semifinals which take place on Wednesday. Meanwhile her teammate Sharlene Mawdsley was very unfortunate in her heat. The Tipperary runner ran a personal best of 50.71 seconds but that was only good enough to claim fourth. This time would've seen her qualify in some of the other heats but now she has to go into the repechage.
Mawdsley was still in high hopes however after her run when speaking to RTÉ.
Yeah, I said you know what, it's the Olympics, go out and go for it. I know I'm in good shape, I think I just got a little carried away towards the end and I said you have it, you have it, you have it and then I didn't.
It was so close though, I would have qualified in this heat like 51.36 so it's mad but that's the way the game is going. I'm proud of that performance.
Sharlene Mawdsley was proud after a personal best and fourth in her 400m heat and she will be the fastest starter in tomorrow's repechage - "I just have to go and win that"
📺 Watch https://t.co/XnOP6grnB7
📱 Report: https://t.co/HYpUKgohUB#Paris2024 #olympicgames #olympics pic.twitter.com/uimUDy1N0L— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 5, 2024
She will be joined in the repechage on Tuesday by Sophie Becker. Becker ran a 51.84 400m to finish sixth in heat 1. She was "disappointed and a bit confused" after her race as she was hoping to run a personal best this Olympics but now has the chance to redeem herself.
Sophie Becker was "disappointed and a bit confused" after finishing sixth in her 400m heat but determined to reach the semi-final or run a personal best in tomorrow's repechage
📺 Watch https://t.co/XnOP6grnB7
📱 Updates https://t.co/7J2WfVU0Tm#Paris2024 #olympicgames #olympics pic.twitter.com/I1boOCvBFg— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 5, 2024
Team Ireland are already guaranteed to win their most medals ever this Olympics and it doesn't look like the winning is over yet.
