Rhasidat Adeleke has smashed her own Irish indoor 400m record with a stunning run at the Big 12 university Championships in Texas.
Not only that, in what is an unprecedented achievement for an Irish sprinter, the Tallaght athlete also accomplished the considerable feat of breaking the NCAA collegiate record.
Adeleke won the race in a time of 50.33, which is 12 hundredths of a second faster than her first Irish record-breaking run earlier this month.
It was Karen Shinkins’ 21-year-old record of 51.58 which she broke back then, when running at altitude in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but the 20-year-old is taking down even bigger targets now.
Because, behind Femke Bol’s world indoor record of 49.26, this 50.33 run is the second fastest time in the world this year.
It moves her into 13th in the all-time list of indoor 400m runs and pushes her into the mix of the real elite level of sprinting. With the Paris Olympics less than 18 months away, these are certainly very exciting times for Adeleke and her followers.
Running for the University of Texas, where she’s on scholarship, Adeleke won the race with plenty in hand from her team-mate Kennedy Simon. She went out in a blistering 23.62 first lap before maintaining her advantage right through to the finish.
You can watch the race here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2Pi-IxyUq0
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