With Olympic qualification already in the bag, Adeleke, Cillín Greene, Thomas Barr, and Sharlene Mawdsley took bronze in the 4x400m mixed relay.....See Full Story>>.....See Full Story>>
When Adeleke took over the baton on the second leg it felt like some of the stadium crowd hushed in anticipation. That reputation to dazzle and excite now precedes her, and with that, Adeleke ran one of the fastest 400-meter split times in championship history to lead Ireland onto the medal podium at the World Athletics Relays in the Bahamas.
It was Adeleke’s first senior championship medal, and surely not her last, the 21-year-old making sure the Irish quartet signed off on their visit to Nassau in sensational style, her 48.45 seconds leading the way to the bronze medal in the mixed 4x400m after a thrilling showdown against reigning World Champions the USA and the much-revered Netherlands.
From Nassau direct to Paris, this event may have been mostly about Olympic qualification, but just as they’d done when winning Saturday’s heat to ensure their Paris berth, Cillín Greene, Adeleke, Thomas Barr, and Sharlene Mawdsley combined again with fearless determination, finishing in another national record of 3:11.53, improving on their 3:12.50 from Saturday.
Adeleke’s split time of 48.45 seconds was the fastest ever recorded at the World Relays – and faster on the night than the reigning Olympic 400m champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo from the Bahamas (49.54), and reigning World 400m champion Marileidy Paulino from the Dominican Republic (48.93).
Faster too than Femke Bol, the Dutch world indoor record holder, who clocked 49.63 to hold off Mawdsley for the silver medal by just .08 of a second.
“I appreciate my team-mates, Cillín gave it to me in a brilliant position so I just took that and built on it,” said Adeleke, the Dublin athlete further stamping her authority on one-lap running, her Irish record of 49.20 from June of last year her next obvious target.
“I just wanted to try my best to put Tom in the best position going forward. I was able to catch a couple of people and I knew Tom would be able to hold it and that Sharlene would finish well. And honestly, I’ve been to a lot of championships, and this one has the most energy, the people were so loud.”