Rhasidat Adeleke breaks Irish 400 metre record again at NCAA West Regionals

The record-breaking spree continues, Rhasidat Adeleke once again breaking an Irish record of her own, smashing her own Irish 400 metres record at the NCAA West Regionals in Sacramento, California on Saturday night.

Adeleke finished in a stunning time of 49.54, taking down the 49.90 she ran in Florida last month, and with that the 20 year-old becoming the first Irish woman to break 50 seconds.

[ Rhasidat Adeleke: ‘I just want to work harder, run faster, that’s what drives me on’ ]

A third-year student at the University of Texas, it’s the sixth Irish record of the year for Adeleke this year – a time of 49.54 that would have placed her fourth in the Olympics in Tokyo. Her time is also the third fastest in the world so far this year, and would have been good enough for silver at the last World Championships in Oregon in July 2022

Elsewhere, another rising teenage star Nick Griggs broke Darragh McElhinney’s Irish under-20 5,000m record of 13:54.10, running a brilliant time of 13:36.47, at the IFAM meeting in Oordegem, Belgium, on Saturday.