News

Rhasidat Adeleke (Tallaght AC) has booked her place in Wednesday’s 400m final at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest with an impressive 49.87 second-place finish in this evening’s semi-final.

Running from lane five, the Irish 400m record holder looked very controlled over the opening 200m, before unleashing a devastating final kick down the home straight to claim second place behind Olympic silver medallist Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic (49.54).

Speaking after the race, Adeleke said, “I went out a bit slow and was a bit further back than I planned, but I know what to change for the final and I’m excited for it.”

Adeleke will return to the track for her first world senior final on Wednesday evening at 8.35pm (Irish time).

Sharlene Mawdsley (Newport AC) also went in this evening’s 400m semi-finals, bowing out of her individual 400m with another brilliant display of 51.78 having posted a new lifetime best of 51.17 in yesterday’s heats.

The Tipperary athlete played a leading role in Ireland’s sixth place finish in Saturday’s mixed relay final and could yet return for her fifth appearance of the week with the women’s 4x400m relay team set to take to the track on Saturday.

Speaking after the race, Mawdsley said, “It’s been an amazing week. I really can’t believe what I’ve produced. I believed in myself this week and I’ve been rewarded with a personal best and an individual semi-final. I trusted my training and that I could produce back-to-back performances so it’s given me great confidence that I can compete at this level consistently.”

Day 3 Results Summary

• Rhasidat Adeleke – Women’s 400m – Semi Final 1: 49.87 Q
• Sharlene Mawdsley – Women’s 400m – Semi-Final 2: 51.75 (22nd overall)