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Following a frustrating outing at the Paris Olympic Games, Rhasidat Adeleke finally opened up on adjusting to the heartbreak and goals for the 2025 season.
The 2024 season was a rollercoaster ride for Irish sprint queen Rhasidat Adeleke, filled with several highs and a low period that saw her fall short of winning a medal at the Paris Olympic Games.
Adeleke was one of the standout athletes this season, having broken six national records as an individual and contributed to six more in relays, and left the European Championships in Rome with three medals: two silvers and one gold.
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Sadly, she missed out on a podium finish at the Paris Olympics with a fourth-place finish in the 400m final, then faced the same position finish in the women’s 4x400m relay, thus ending her maiden Olympics without a medal.
Months after the heartbreak, Adeleke finally opened up on the experience, the vital lessons learned and setting her goals right for the 2025 season.
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14:57 - 21.11.2024
Rhasidat Adeleke wins prestigious awards in Ireland for brilliant 2024 Olympic season
Irish sprint star Rhasidat Adeleke copped prestigious awards in her country for her brilliant 2024 season.
“I still kind of have that PTSD from the Olympics,” said the 22-year-old in an interview with irishexaminer.com.
“Sometimes I’m scrolling through my camera and I just skip through all of those pictures. It definitely wasn’t a bad year. I did make a lot of progress in different events. It was a year of growth and I learned a lot of lessons. And I think that's very necessary to be able to be successful.”
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08:58 - 17.12.2024
History-making sprint queen: Saint Lucia's golden girl Julien Alfred tops Usain Bolt to a record with another monumental feat
Following an iconic Olympic year, Julien Alfred's new stat released by the World Athletics shows she has topped Usain Bolt to a record.
Despite the frustration of the Olympics, Adeleke has put it behind and back in her Texas base, training and working hard for her first individual medal at the World Championships in Tokyo next year.
“Training has been really hard,” she said. “We’re working on my weaknesses so anything that you’re not that good at is always going to be very hard. It’s been a lot of progress so I’m happy about that. That’s what fall training is for: the grimy stuff you don’t really like.”
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Since starting back, the focus has been on strength: developing the speed endurance engine to allow her to match the world’s best in the last 100m, while also targeting muscle weaknesses that have sometimes seen her posture falter late in races.
“I know what I'm not good at and I'm really good at taking constructive criticism so if someone is like, ‘you need to work on this' then I'm like, 'OK, what do I need to do?’ I want to do everything I can to get better at this sport and to reach our full potential.”
Taking lots of lessons and being an influence on several Irish athletes at such a young age, hopefully, she can finally get an individual world medal in Tokyo next year.
“I learned a lot of things I'm going to be able to take into next season. I would rather learn things earlier on than make these mistakes when I'm supposed to be reaching my peak. I've taken a lot away and I'll be able to apply that next year.”
At 22, Adeleke's success isn't limited to the track alone but off it as well, as she is an ambassador to top brands such as Rihanna's Fenty Hair and recently with KPMG Ireland.
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