Rhasidat Adeleke ran the fastest 400m race of her life to win silver at the European Championships in Rome.
The 21-year-old was pipped for gold by Poland’s Natalia Kaczmarek after a thrilling race that saw the pair battle it out all the way up the home straight.
In the end, Adeleke crossed the line in a PB time of 49.07, shaving 0.13 off her previous best.
Having been ‘devastated’ when she crossed the line initially, the Dubliner quickly put the narrow loss into perspective as she reasoned in an interview with RTÉ’s David Gillick that her main goal for the year is the Olympics in Paris.
“Honestly, when I crossed the line, I was a little bit devastated, I really wanted it.” said Adeleke.
“But as my coach said, we’ve been training through this competition so to even come out here and run a PB, I’m really excited for the rest of the season. This is my first 400m competition of the year,” she added.
“My coach has been telling us through the whole competition that Paris is the goal. Hopefully, come Paris, I’ll be where I need to be.”
“I just tried to stick with the pace. I wanted to make sure I was always in contention.
“Maybe I moved a bit early. This is my first 400m competition back, and I’m just going to be learning each time.
“I was just like ‘please don’t die, legs,” she said. I wanted gold, I got silver, I can’t complain.
Adeleke saved a special word for her mother, who she says has supported her throughout her career.
“My man comes to every single meet ever since I was growing up. She put me first all the time,” said Adeleke.
“She would switch out shifts at work. She would take me everywhere, pay for everything. To be able to be here, doing what I love, I just feel so grateful to her because I definitely wouldn’t be here without her.”
“It means a lot (to get on the podium.) I wanted gold, but I’m grateful to be here. I take my blessings as I get here. Hopefully moving forward I get my gold.”
Sharlene Mawdsley finished in eight place in the final.
