Nigerian-Irish track star Rhasidat Adeleke credits her success at the European Championships to her mother who made a lot of sacrifices through the years.
Highly rated sprinter Rhasidat Adeleke finished the European Athletics Championships as the second most decorated athlete, securing three medals and setting Irish National Records., which she credits her mother for the success.
To set the medals rolling for her historic outing, Adeleke inspired her team of Christopher O’Donnell, Thomas Barr, and Sharlene Mawdsley to the mixed 4x400m gold in a National Record (NR) and Championship Record (CR) of 3:09.92. Her split of 49.53s played a vital role in the victory - Ireland's first-ever title in the event.
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In the women's 400m final, she was pipped to gold by just 0.09 seconds as Poland's Natalia Kaczmarek unleashed a sensational CR of 48.98s to take the title.
Adeleke's time of 49.09s shaved 0.15 seconds off her previous PB and NR in just her first race of the season in the event, and the times recorded by her and Kaczmarek were the fastest by any European athlete this century over the one-lap distance.
Finally, to cap off her impeccable performances, the 2023 NCAA Champion joined Sophie Becker, Phil Healy, and Mawdsley as they blazed to a superb second-place finish in the women's 4x400m relay final also in a new NR of 3:22.71.
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The 21-year-old is destined to be at the top of her game, and she attributes all her success to her mother for the sacrifices she has made through the years.
"If you know my mum, she comes to every single meet. Ever since I was growing up and as I aged, she put me first all the time," said the versatile Irish sprinter.
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"She will tweak out shifts that worked, she will always take annual leave to come watch my meets, take me everywhere, pay for everything. So to be able to be here doing what I do, doing what I love, putting all the work in, I just feel grateful to her because I won't be here without her," she concluded.
Adeleke's next major competition will be the Paris Olympic Games, where she'll be gunning to secure medals in her individual event and the relays.
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