SIX DAYS SHORT of her 21st birthday, Ireland’s Rhasidat Adeleke cemented her place among the 400m elite as she finished fourth in the World Championship final in Budapest.
Tallaght’s Adeleke, bidding for Ireland’s first world championship medal on the track since 1995, was narrowly run out of the podium places as she crossed the line in 50.13 seconds.
Pre-race favourite Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic was crowned world champion as she won gold in a new national record of 48.76 seconds.
Natalia Kaczmarek of Poland took silver in 49.57 with Sada Williams of Barbados taking bronze in 49.60 seconds ahead of Adeleke.
“At the end of the day, I gave it all I had,” Adeleke told Virgin Media’s Will Dalton in the immediate aftermath.
“That was my goal. As long as I give it 100%, I can’t complain. I left it all on the track out there, and that’s what I had.”
𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝟒𝟎𝟎𝐦 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 ⚡️
— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) August 23, 2023
Rhasidat Adeleke finishes fourth in her first senior world final. 🇮🇪
Gold goes to Marileidy Paulino from the Dominican Republic. 🥇🇩🇴#TeamIreland #WorldAthleticsChamps #Budapest2023 pic.twitter.com/9iotAIL2at
Adeleke toed the start line knowing that, of her rivals, only Paulino had run a faster time this season than the 49.20 seconds Irish national record that won her the NCAA Championships.
From the gun, Paulino — who won silver at the Tokyo Olympics and at the World Championships in Oregon last season — went out hard in pursuit of her first individual gold at major championship level, as did Lieke Klaver of the Netherlands, running outside Adeleke in lane five.
Even at the end of a long collegiate season, Adeleke had finished like a train in her heats and semi-finals, but had pinpointed the first half of the race as an area where she could improve.
She was sixth at the half-way mark, a little over two-tenths of a second behind Paulino and the medal places.
But from there she quickly moved through the gears and as the race unwound in the home straight, briefly moved into third behind the escaping Paulino and the tiring Klaver.
Adeleke dug deep in the final 50 metres to pass Klaver, but it wasn’t enough to hold off the fast-finishing Kaczmarek and Williams who ran her out of the medals.
“I feel like I was a bit out of my comfort zone, and I do like to be more comfortable in the first 200,” she reflected afterwards.
She added: “It’s been a long season. I’ve done so many races. To come out here at the end of August, after being running since the start of January, I’m just happy.
“I was competing against the pros who started their season in May. For me to come fourth, honestly, it’s a really good result.”
"I left it all out there.
— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) August 23, 2023
"I was competing against the pros whose season started in May. Honestly, for me to come fourth is a really good result.
"I'm going to keep working. This is what I love to do."
- @rhasidatadeleke. 🇮🇪#TeamIreland #WorldAthleticsChamps @WillDalton01 pic.twitter.com/TcQnkDOmmV
