‘I'll take it' – Rhasidat Adeleke sets her sights on the World Championships after an encouraging display in London

Irish Independent

5 days ago

Adeleke, the Irish 200m record holder via the 22.34 she ran in 2023, was drawn in the outside lane and while she didn't have the gears to mix it with training partner Julien Alfred, who blasted to victory in 21.71, the Dubliner held her form well to finish fourth, her 22.52 improving her season's best from the 22.57 she ran in Florida in April.
'I was just trying to stay in contention the whole time, trying to focus on getting out and not get left behind in the blocks, which I kind of did,' said Adeleke. 'I was working my way back, but I'll take it.
'I was trying my best to be competitive and that's the best I could do, especially in a really talented field of short sprinters.
'I have a background in the short sprints too so I know how to navigate my way around a 200m, but yeah, just trying to make sure I was being competitive.'
It was a step forward for Adeleke after a mediocre season to date, with the best of her three outings over 400m last month being the 50.42 she ran in Oslo, well down on her national record of 49.07.
As she outlined her goals for the next few weeks, Adeleke confirmed her sights are now set on the World Championships in September.
'Just making sure I can stay healthy and stay motivated and disciplined and just continue on the road to Tokyo,' she added. 'It is about a month and a half away so just trying to make sure our eyes are focused on that, even though there's so many other things going on.'
It was a good day for the Irish athletes as Sarah Healy continued her fine form with a third-place finish in the mile in 4:16.25 and the women's 4x100m quartet of Sarah Leahy, Lauren Roy, Ciara Neville and Sarah Lavin broke the national record with 43.73.
Healy solidified her 2025 breakthrough by finishing third in the women's mile, the European indoor 3000m champion smashing her PB with 4:16.25, a little outside Ciara Mageean's national record of 4:14.58. Ethiopian star Gudaf Tsegay took victory in a national record of 4:11.88, with Olympic silver medallist Jess Hull of Australia second in an Oceanian record of 4:13.68.
'Today was about competing and getting out there and getting some good racing under my belt,' said Healy. 'I could sense where everyone was out there and felt I had the speed for that last lap, although I didn't realise quite how close fourth place was to me so I am very pleased to have held on.'
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The Irish women's 4x100m quartet was hugely impressive in breaking the previous national record of 43.80, which had stood since 2018, their 43.73 bringing them home fourth behind Great Britain (41.69), Jamaica (42.50) and France (43.54).
'It is all quite surreal to be honest,' said Leahy of competing at the sold-out London Stadium. 'I was on the first leg and when I walked out I was so overwhelmed, I had tears in my eyes. I have never competed in an environment like this. And to get a national record is unbelievable.'
Lavin said it was 'so important that every girl at home sprinting in Ireland knows that they can try and get on this team, and they can qualify for the major championships in the coming years too. Hopefully we can inspire many people with the performances today.'
Mark English consolidated his recent good form with another fast clocking over 800m, the Donegal athlete finishing seventh in 1:44.07, a race won by Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi in 1:42.00. English came up just shy of his Irish record of 1:43.92, which he ran in Hengelo last month.