Tallaght Athletic Club clubhouse was full to overflowing long before Rhasidat time, which was 7.02pm.
The red and yellow singlets of the club and green Irish jerseys, young and old, black and white mixed together.
In the pre-race commotion somebody knocked over the speaker so there was no commentary, but there was plenty of sound when Rhasidat Adeleke emerged for the Olympic women’s 400 metres final.
The crowd, packed as tight as a submarine door, yelled and shouted from the starting gun to the finish line, the noise reaching a crescendo as Adeleke emerged off the final bend in third place and barely dimmed when she was run out in the bronze medal position by Natalia Kaczmarek, the Polish athlete who had beaten her in the European Championships in June.
Fourth – as Eamonn Coghlan and Sonia O’Sullivan can testify before her – is the hardest place to be in an Olympic final, but for those present in Tallaght AC, there was an unmistakable feeling that there will be better nights ahead for an athlete who is still only 21.
It might get even better as soon as Saturday, as Adeleke has announced she will run in the 4 x 400 metres women’s relay final. “She’s only a baby,” said club treasurer Gary Clarke. “There’s plenty more yet.”
The front seats were reserved for three generations of Johnny Fox’s family – Fox being the coach in Tallaght who discovered Adeleke’s talent when she joined the club nine years ago. He died in April at the age of 84, having given more than 50 years if his life to local athletics.
His widow Gertrude, daughter Carmel Holland and granddaughter Anne Marie Gorman were all in attendance.
“I’m so proud of her and I’m so proud of my Dad. It’s so emotional. Win, lose or draw we will always be behind her and she is absolutely fantastic,” said Ms Holland.
Ms Gorman said her grandfather “lived for her [Adeleke] and he knew from day one that she would be an all-Ireland champion and she would get to the Olympics”.
The club has already seen its membership and profile soar as a result of Adeleke’s success. It is bound to help as it seeks Government funding to upgrade the running track where she trained before going to the University of Texas.
“She’s lifted the profile of the club, she has boosted the mood in Tallaght, just look around you here today,” said member Alan McCabe.
Club secretary Hazel Hoban said the fact that she trained with Tallaght AC “will forever go down in history”.
“She has done all of Tallaght proud. She is a great ambassador for young people in athletics. What she started now is just going to get bigger and bigger,” she said.
Yemi Ojo, the chair of the South Dublin Migrant Integration Forum (SDMIF) had a tricolour tightly wrapped around herself. She was hoarse by the end of the race. “I feel so proud to be Tallaght, to be an African and to be representing all races. Everybody is here to support her.”
