It may not be a standard championship distance and still there’s no discounting the quality of the time Rhasidat Adeleke has clocked in her opening race of the indoor season.
Now in her sophomore year at the University of Texas, Adeleke lined up in the 300 metres, a little beyond her preferred shorter sprint distance, and ran the fastest time by an Irish woman either indoors or outdoors, her 36.87 seconds also breaking the 37-second barrier for the first time.
Competing on the second day of the Clemson Invite in South Carolina, the Dubliner took second in the race, and with that improved on the existing Irish indoor mark of 37.56 seconds, clocked by Phil Healy in Athlone back in 2017, also bettering the Irish outdoor mark too of 37.07, clocked by Karen Shinkins in Belgium back in 2001.
Still only 19 – Adeleke does not turn 20 until August – her 36.87 seconds is also the fastest indoor time ever run over 300 metres by a European teenager. Her Texas team mate Stacey Ann Williams finished just behind in third with a time of 36.95, the potential for yet further improvement clear as the season beings to gather pace – particularly if or when she races over 400m.
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In her first year at Texas, Adeleke took down a series of records at Under-20, including the 200m record set before she was born. Last summer she also broke the Irish senior 200m record with her 22.90 seconds, also winning the sprint double at the European Under-20 Championships in Estonia, finishing the season as fastest female junior in Europe at both 100m and 200 metres, and sixth fastest teenager in the world at 200m.
