As opening outdoor races go, Rhasidat Adeleke certainly laid down a marker at the 96th edition of famed Texas Relays, part of the international quartet that set a new world best in the 4x200 metres.
Running the second leg, on her home track at the University of Texas, the Dublin sprinter helped the quartet to victory in 1:27.05, alongside her Texas training partners Lanae Tava-Thomas, Julien Alfred and Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith.
Their time was faster than the current world record of 1:27.46, set by a US quartet at the Penn Relays in 2000, although it won’t count for world record purposes because the four women are not from the same nation.
Alfred’s anchor leg of 20.8 matched Marion Jones with the all-time fastest anchor leg ever ran, the recent World Indoor champion from St Lucia establishing herself as one of the Olympic favourites.
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The Texas college women’s team of Lauren Lewis, Dejanea Oakley, Carletta Bernard and Kenondra Davis finished third with a time of 1:32.70.
For Adeleke, in her final year at the University of Texas and now racing as a professional, it also provides a nice tune-up ahead of the World Relays in May, where the Irish women’s team are looking to qualify for the Paris Olympics.
The 21-year-old has also indicated she will target the European Championships in Rome in June as part of her Olympic preparations.
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