Last Chance Saloon: Saturday's 200m at Irish Championships to Decide Rhasidat Adeleke's Birmingham Fate

Rhasidat Adeleke's bid to qualify individually for next month's European Athletics Championships in Birmingham looks set to come down to one final opportunity next weekend.

The 2024 European 400m silver medallist has been entered in the women's 200 metres at next weekend's Irish Senior Track and Field Championships at Morton Stadium, with the event scheduled for Saturday.

Following her recent withdrawal from the KBC Night of Athletics in Belgium on Saturday, Adeleke's options have become very limited, with the qualification window closing on the 26th of July.

As things stand, the Irish star has already run inside the European Championships B standard for the 200 metres this season, clocking 22.86 seconds at the Texas Invitational ath the end of April. However, while that performance met the B standard, she does not hold a ranking position.

Instead, Adeleke now appears to have one straightforward route to the 200m event in Birmingham: achieve the automatic qualifying standard of 22.85 seconds or faster.

After an injury-disrupted twelve months, the 200m at the Irish championships now represents the biggest race of Adeleke's season.

The 23-year-old endured a frustrating start to the summer, with injuries limiting her opportunities to build ranking points and forcing several withdrawals. She opened her outdoor season with a tough night over 400 metres at the Prefontaine Classic before returning to Europe to run 23.07 over 200 metres in Lucerne, a performance that represented an improvement in the right direction.

She had also been expected to race over 400 metres at the KBC Night of Athletics in Belgium before being withdrawn from the meeting, further reducing the number of opportunities available before the qualification window closes.

Now, all eyes turn to Saturday at Morton Stadium.