by Perri Williams
It appears that Rhasidat Adeleke is not likely to be part of this weekends mixed 4x400m relay opener in Paris. The Tallaght AC sprinter has turned her focus on towards her individual event, where she has been thought to have a big medal chance.
The mixed relay heats are scheduled for tomorrow night at 7.10pm (Paris), the team will be led off by Chris O’Donnell (Sligo) as was the case in Rome where the team produced Gold. O’Donnell will hand over to Sophie Becker (Raheny), followed by Thomas Barr (Ferrybank) and finally to Sharlene Mawdsley.
Ireland will be in the same heat as the Netherlands, who they have continually come up against in these mixed relays. As of yet it is not known if Femke Bol or Leike Klaver who like Adeleke have individual interests in other events, will compete in the preliminary rounds. It is not unusual for top athletes to bypass the preliminary rounds of relays, especially if there is depth to a team. The real question will be whether athletes like Adeleke will be confirmed for later stages should the team get through to the final. The top three in tomorrow nights heats along with the next two fastest times will advance to Saturdays finals.
According to a report in today’s Irish Independent by Cathal Dennehy, when the Athletics Ireland High Performance Manager Paul McNamara was asked about Adeleke’s availability he stated that no announcements will be made “in advance of final relay declarations”.
Adeleke has been an integral part of the Irish Mixed Relay success, firstly in the Bahama’s where the team finished third in the World Relays and latterly in Rome where they grabbed gold at the European Championships. Running so many races close together can have an impact on your individual event, and it clearly affected Sharlene Mawdsley in the final of the individual 400m in Rome. Adeleke herself had complained of “heavy legs” in the semi-final which was held two days after the relay final in Rome.
The 400m individual events will kick start next Monday with the heats. Ireland will have three athletes involved; Rashidat Adeleke, Sharlene Mawdsley and Sophie Becker, the semi-finals will be two days later with the finals next Friday. If the athletes get through to the finals in both events, this could mean five 400m races in nine days. To complicate matters further the heats of the women’s 4x400m are due to be held on the same Friday morning as the finals of the individual event.
We await the confirmation of future decisions.