RHASIDAT ADELEKE has warned her rivals there is more to come from her when she drops her inhibitions.
Adeleke helped Ireland’s mixed 4 x 400m team win bronze at the World Relay Championships earlier this month, with her split time an incredible 48.45 seconds.
Prior to that, she had set a wind-assisted 100m personal best of 10.84.
Along the way, she graduated from the University of Texas, completing her Corporate Communications Degree seven months ahead of schedule, with plans to return for a Masters in Finance down the line.
By then, she reckons she might have come closer to realising her potential by no longer being in awe of other’s exploits and being more familiar with her now favoured 400m event.
Asked about her split time in the Bahamas, she revealed it came after a chiding from her mentor Edrick Floréal, known as Coach Flo.
She said: “It definitely took me by surprise because I was in a heavy training cycle.
“The first 4×4, I went in a little scared, I didn’t know where I was going to be. I was surprised then to split a 49 and then 49 again and went faster again.
“Then my coach called me that night and was like, ‘What are you doing? You’re messing around.’
“And it’s not that I was messing around, I was being a bit too comfortable. As long as I got ahead, gave the baton in first, grew the lead, I wanted to make sure that’s what I did. But he was like, ‘you could go further than that’.
“What really helped me in the 48.4 split was having Lieke Klaver – she went out really fast the first 200 and usually I wouldn’t do that because I’m newer to the 400 than other people.
“I don’t necessarily understand my threshold, so I don’t go out as fast in the first two, I’m always comfortable, but she really pushed me in the first 200 and that showed me I was strong enough to finish and I was surprised by that, but I think that definitely helped me and it helped build my confidence.”
As for her 100m time, she said: “I was surprised. Honestly, Flo was like ‘why are you surprised? I hate when you do that, don’t act all surprised because you know that you can do this.’
“I think it is because I have never actually executed a 100m that well. My personal best for 100 was from my freshman year.
“So yeah, I was surprised and really happy and even though it was wind-assisted, I know what I can do when it is not windy.”
There are plans to run another 100m and she has been entered into both the 200m and 400m for the European Championships and she is coming around to viewing herself as an equal to some of her more illustrious competitors.
She said: “At Worlds in 2022, when I was competing against Shaunae Miller-Uibo, I kind of let her go because I felt like she was supposed to be in front of me. She’s world champion, Olympic champion, she’s faster than me, she’s supposed to be ahead.
“But sometimes it’s, don’t give them too much respect and let them run away from you. I’m going to go in there open minded and see what I can do.”
TEAM PLAYER
Flo has told her she can medal as an individual but the performance in Bahamas has increased hopes of a podium finish in the relays.
Competing in the mixed and women’s 4x400m would be a big ask but she relishes the team aspect.
She said: “You’re literally representing more than yourself so I really like that team aspect because sometimes it even makes you go harder because there’s someone waiting for you on the line, they’re dependent on you.
“And being able to embrace each other when you know that every single person ran their heart out. It’s amazing.”
Rhasidat Adeleke was speaking as part of Allianz’s #StopTheDrop campaign. While sport is a part of our national DNA, 1 in 5 children stop participating in sport at the transition from primary to secondary school.
As the largest insurer of schools in Ireland, insuring over 500,000 children, Allianz want to play a part in stopping the drop in participation. Visit allianz.ie/StopTheDrop for more.