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Eid Salwa Naser won Wednesday evening's first 400m semi-final ahead of Ireland's Rhasidat Adeleke. Morgan Treacy/INPHO

Rhasidat Adeleke crosses semi-final frontier, but no margin for error in stacked 400m field

The Tallaght star is the first Irish athlete ever to make an Olympic sprint final on the flat, and is focusing now on an improved performance to put herself in the medal mix.

HAS HISTORIC SUCCESS ever felt as oddly queasy as this? 

Letโ€™s first pause to acknowledge what Rhasidat Adeleke has just done. 

Adeleke tonight became only the third Irish athlete to qualify for an Olympic sprint final, after Bob Tisdall in 1932 and Thomas Barr in 2016. Given they achieved theirs over hurdles, Adeleke is in a paradigm of her own. 

Our 2024 medal glut shouldnโ€™t sate us to the point we ignore the rubicon Rhasidat Adeleke has just crossed. 

But by the heights of her own standards and the negligible limits of her awesome talent, Adeleke didnโ€™t cross her rubicon quickly enough, finishing second in the nightโ€™s first semi-final behind Bahrainโ€™s Eid Salwa Naser. 

The fact Salwa Naser is recently back from a two-year ban for violating drug-testing whereabouts rules  and then coasted home in 49.08 โ€“ her fastest time since her ban was imposed โ€“ added a further knot to a night of tangled success.  

โ€œIt was a very messy race,โ€ Adeleke told RTร‰ afterwards. โ€œIโ€™m just excited that Iโ€™m able to get into the final and fix everything for when I do get into the final.โ€ 

On her day, Adeleke is good enough to win an Olympic 400m medal, but there is a lot to fix if Friday is to be her day. 

If Adeleke was nervous before the race, Lieke Klaverโ€™s false start compounded those nerves. 

โ€œAt first they held us really long and I think I was ready to go then,โ€ she told RTร‰. โ€œBut when we went again I feel I was just thinking about it too much and didnโ€™t execute my first 100m as I should have.โ€

rhasidat-adeleke-ahead-of-the-race Adeleke: "It was a very messy race." Morgan Treacy / INPHO Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO

Her instructions from her coach, Edrick Florรฉal, are to use her sprint speed to get out fast, and then fight to hold on for dear life down the home straight. Adeleke went out in 23.22, which is broadly close to the 23 second target set by Florรฉal.

Eid Naser, however, went out faster, in 23 seconds dead. Perhaps the expectation she would be ahead at this point spooked Adeleke. 

โ€œI didnโ€™t execute my first 200m as I should have, but thatโ€™s all things we can fix for the final,โ€ said Adeleke. โ€œAnd I think I also panicked a little bit which made me break form really early but Iโ€™m excited, Iโ€™ve made the final and I can give it my best shot.โ€ 

Her tone while speaking to RTร‰ didnโ€™t quite betray excitement. Most concerning for Adeleke and her coach is the extent to which she faded at the end, running the final 100m in 14.51 seconds. Only Ayallah Butler, who finished sixth, was slower over the closing 100m than Adeleke. Of course the times alone may not tell the full story, and Adeleke may have kicked into conservation mode knowing she had probably done enough to fend off third-placed Henriette Jaeger for an automatic qualifying spot in the final. 

After the race, Adeleke did not follow custom and walk through the mixed zone to speak to reporters. We were told she was too fatigued after the race to speak to the written media, having spoken to broadcasters. Her RTร‰ interview certainly seemed to be missing some of the zest of her usual appearances. 

The message from Adelekeโ€™s team after the race is that she is feeling fine, but is putting all her energy into refuelling and recovering for Fridayโ€™s final. 

rhasidat-adeleke-on-her-way-to-finishing-2nd Adeleke: Iโ€™m excited, Iโ€™ve made the final and I can give it my best shot. Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO

The single biggest reproach to this nagging feeling is, of course, the fact that semi-finals are for getting over the line. 

Nickisha Pryce โ€“ one of only three contenders to run faster than Adeleke this season prior to tonight โ€“ didnโ€™t qualify for the final at all, flaming out by finishing fourth in her semi-final, albeit in a quicker time than Adelekeโ€™s. 

That semi-final was won by Marileidy Paulino, who looks to have the gold medal sewn up. Eid Naserโ€™s sudden return to form may be her claim to silver. The bronze medal, though, is still to be fought for, with Natalia Kaczmarek, who pipped Adeleke to European gold in June, the strongest contender. She won her semi-final in 49.45, just ahead of Britainโ€™s Amber Anning,

The assumption before the Games would be that Adeleke needed to dip below 49 seconds for the first time to win a medal, but Kaczmarekโ€™s time was such that Adeleke might make a podium by matching her PB of 49.07. 

But as Adeleke admits, she has a lot to fix between now and 7pm Irish time on Friday. 

But in these Games of unfathomable yield, Rhasidat Adeleke has given Ireland another national occasion to anticipate. 

This is a magnificent thing, even if tonight did not augur well for her medal hopes. 

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    Mute Shane O'Connell
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    Oct 10th 2012, 5:45 PM

    Some cheat.about time he is being exposed.

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    Mute Chris O Connor
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    Oct 10th 2012, 5:47 PM

    Who cares??? World economy in the shit, Israel and Iran about to push buttons, people dying and starving and they pick on lance, Iโ€™m sorry but whatโ€™s the big deal, the only way to live in this world is to be ON a shit load of drugs!!!

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    Mute Tom Keating
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    Oct 10th 2012, 5:51 PM

    When you put it that way, I guess, โ€œwho caresโ€!

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    Mute Nivag Yeoh
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    Oct 10th 2012, 5:53 PM

    Who cares about anything?

    Eh?

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    Mute Tiarnรกn Byrne
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    Oct 10th 2012, 5:58 PM

    Chris, in the words of TD Simon Harris โ€˜Chillaxโ€™. Yes the world is a little crazy, but I donโ€™t think The Journal is going to stop reporting the whole spectrum of the news just because thereโ€™s some other more serious stories out there!

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    Mute Gordon Bernard
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    Oct 10th 2012, 6:15 PM

    Not much the doping or cycling federation (or whatever itโ€™s called) can do about Iran, Israel, or world hunger or the global economy. Theyโ€™re doing their job, so whatโ€™s your problem? Not great logic in your comment.

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    Mute Tom Keating
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    Oct 10th 2012, 5:46 PM

    โ€œCheatStrongโ€ from now on?

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    Mute Gerard Fitzgerald
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    Oct 10th 2012, 6:02 PM

    i saw a picture of lance on his deathbed,drawn bald pale as a ghost,the next time i saw him,he was winning big cycling races,ffs come on people,yo dont come that close to dying from that disease and go on to be the greatest cyclist in the worlds hardest sport,KEEP IT REAL!

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    Mute Gis Bayertz
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    Oct 10th 2012, 6:24 PM

    Heโ€™s not the greatest if he achieved his victories by cheating

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    Mute Barry Murphy
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    Oct 12th 2012, 12:45 AM

    Not the greatest. Just the most successful tour rider of all time. Not the greatest though. Do you know anything about the exceptional athlete he was long before cycling?

    Didnโ€™t think so.

    Read, educate & then respond with a comment.

    Thank you

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    Mute Nivag Yeoh
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    Oct 12th 2012, 2:21 AM

    duhhhhhhh

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    Mute joe stodge
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    Oct 10th 2012, 5:34 PM

    Still waiting on proof.

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    Mute Nivag Yeoh
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    Oct 10th 2012, 5:43 PM

    Hark! Hark! Another ostrich.

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    Mute john cleary
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    Oct 10th 2012, 6:11 PM

    Open your eyes and ears, Joe.

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    Mute Johnny Furlong
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    Oct 10th 2012, 6:54 PM

    Lance is a disgrace and is nothing more than a junkie and drug dealer. The UCI is also a morally corrupt organisation and its a shame that it is run by an Irishman.

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    Mute Johnny Furlong
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    Oct 10th 2012, 7:00 PM

    @joe here is some proof the following is from the usada โ€œThe evidence of the US Postal Service Pro Cycling Team-run scheme is overwhelming and is in excess of 1000 pages, and includes sworn testimony from 26 people, including 15 riders with knowledge of the US Postal Service Team (USPS Team) and its participantsโ€™ doping activities. The evidence also includes direct documentary evidence including financial payments, emails, scientific data and laboratory test results that further prove the use, possession and distribution of performance enhancing drugs by Lance Armstrong and confirm the disappointing truth about the deceptive activities of the USPS Team, a team that received tens of millions of American taxpayer dollars in fundingโ€

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    Mute tony duggan
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    Oct 10th 2012, 7:43 PM

    7 in a row , proof right there for god sake!!

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    Mute Derek Durkin
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    Oct 10th 2012, 6:13 PM

    Just shows you the lure of money and fame can corrupt most, probably justified it in his head that it was worth it to give him the platform his charity got. Was a massive fan but no sympathy for him now.

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    Mute Wayne Yore
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    Oct 10th 2012, 6:22 PM

    How strong was his arm after all the lancing?

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    Mute mattoid
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    Oct 10th 2012, 6:28 PM

    haha! lol!

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    Mute john cleary
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    Oct 10th 2012, 6:20 PM
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    Mute Steve
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    Oct 10th 2012, 7:00 PM

    we donโ€™t know what the most sophisticated doping operation ever is because itโ€™s been sophisticated enough to thus far avoid exposure

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    Mute Nivag Yeoh
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    Oct 10th 2012, 7:16 PM

    Itโ€™s a good job then that the USADA report said that this the most sophisticated one ever โ€œseenโ€.

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    Mute Steve
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    Oct 10th 2012, 7:34 PM

    a fair point my good man.

    My more general point is that cycling has been forced to take anti-doping seriously. In most sports it amounts to little more than window dressing. We have no idea what lurks beneath the surface.

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    Mute Geoff Coleman
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    Oct 10th 2012, 11:31 PM

    Considering the difficulty in finding a true clean winner in the field of cyclists that Arnstrong beat, it could be viewed as a level playing field as such that nearly all the athletes are doping to a degree.

    Not saying its right but donโ€™t think taking any performance enhancing substance made him immediately amazing, he still put in a hell of a lot of gruelling training.

    We as consumers of sport demand so much of athletes that we do support the use of such performance enhancing drugs. We want to see world records beaten, bigger hits in contact sports. Look at baseball and barry bonds! I think the reward of taking something is too much of a draw for many, to be the best and get huge paychecks and contracts. Hard to not do it.

    Only my opinions, feel free to disagree!

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    Mute Nivag Yeoh
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    Oct 10th 2012, 11:33 PM

    Nonsense, from start to finish.

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    Mute Nivag Yeoh
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    Oct 10th 2012, 11:53 PM

    โ€œnearly all the athletes are doping to a degree.โ€ Unquantifiable but not beyond realm of possibility. What of the genuinely clean athletes though?
    โ€œhe still put in a hell of a lot of gruelling training.โ€ Of course. He also put in a lot of work with the best dope doctors around, made sure all his team doped and bullied any dissent into silence or banishment.
    โ€œwe do support the use of such performance enhancing drugsโ€. Not me.

    I understand youโ€™re coming at it from a different angle but itโ€™s ultimately a flawed stance.

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    Mute Michael Cunningham
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    Oct 11th 2012, 12:51 AM

    Sweet mother of Jesus, what a post! Please tell me youโ€™re taking the p*ss.

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    Mute Dermot Crawford
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    Oct 10th 2012, 7:52 PM
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    Mute Martin Buckley
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    Oct 10th 2012, 6:45 PM

    dopes

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