Rhasidat Adeleke finished a heart breaking fourth in the women’s Olympic 400m final tonight in Paris.
Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic set a new Olympic record time of 48.17 seconds to take gold; smashing French legend Josie-Marie Perec 28-year-old record.
Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain took silver in 48.53 seconds. Whereas, reigning European champion Natalia Kaczmareck of Poland; claiming the bronze in 48.98.
“Definitely disappointed” explained Adeleke afterwards. “There was so much more there than what I did today”.
“I didn’t achieve my dreams today but in the future I just hope there’s more podiums there and I’ll be able to perform at my best when it’s most important”.
“It just wasn’t meant to be today” added Adeleke. “It’s my first Olympics, I’m grateful to be healthy and going forward, I want to be exactly where I want to be”.
“That’s what I’m going to be working towards in the future. I’m hungrier than ever!”
Race Plan
“My coach said don’t let a plan get into your head” explained Adeleke who was in third place entering the final 100 metres.
“Just execute, you can judge it yourself and I feel like it didn’t go exactly how I wanted it to but I still gave it my best effort today”.
“The whole thing is a bit of a blur." On the "home straight I think I was in contention, maybe I panicked a little bit and started to strain”.
“It’s just a whole blur. All I remember is that I didn’t make the podium”
“I was just staring at the screen” Adeleke explained. “Oh my God, no way, I came fourth again? Can someone just give me a medal?!’”
21-year-old Adeleke was the second youngest of the field. Only the Norwegian Henriette Jaeger was younger than her by a matter of months.
Whereas, Paulino is 27-years-old, Nazer is 26-years-old, as is Kaczmarek which gave credence to the widely held belief that the 400m is an event suited to athletes peaking in the mid-20’s.
Adeleke confirmed she plans to take her place in the Women’s 4x400m relay tomorrow. The relay team take the line in their final at 8pm Irish time.
