While she performed incredibly in Paris, there is no doubt that Rhasidat Adeleke will experience some lingering disappointment not to come away from this summer's Olympics with at least one medal.
The Dubliner became the first ever Irish athlete to finish fourth twice in the same games, having done so in the women's 400m final as well as the women's 4x400m relay.
Adeleke entered the Olympics under massive expectations, with the 21-year old one of the brightest talents ever produced in this country. She is still in the infancy of her career, but she had the talent to get onto the podium in France.
It did not quite work out that way, coming up just short in both the individual and relay events. It will be expected that she will medal during future Olympics, although it is important that she reacts to her recent disappointment in the correct manner.
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O'Sullivan Feels Rhasidat Adeleke Should Follow Her Example After 1992 Olympics
Sonia O'Sullivan went through something very similar to what Rhasidat Adekele experienced in Paris, being pipped to a medal in dramatic fashion at the 1992 Olympics.
On that occasion, the Cork woman led during the final portion of the 3000m final, only to be overtaken by three athletes and miss out on the podium. Of course, she would later respond to that disappointment by claiming a silver medal in Sydney.
Writing in the Irish Times, O'Sullivan said that Adeleke needs to follow her example after that Barcelona race by getting back out on the track and competing against her rivals as soon as possible.
I also decided I wanted to race the three medal winners in front of me as soon as possible. So I raced plenty more times before the season was finished, and did beat all three.
In doing so I set five Irish records and finished on the high of winning the Grand Prix final.
That’s one way for Adeleke to deal with her Paris disappointment now, and I do expect her to race a few more times before the Diamond League season is out, even if these are only small consolation prizes.
It seems that Rhasidat Adeleke agrees with that assessment.
It has been reported that the Irishwoman will race in the Brussels Diamond League final next month, where she will come up against two of the competitors that finished ahead of her in the 400m final in Paris.
While a victory in that race would not make up for missing out on a medal at the Olympics, it would be the first step towards preparing for future successes. Considering the mindset she has displayed up to this point in her career, there are few doubts that she will bounce back over the coming years.
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