Rhasidat Adeleke took her first step into the professional arena with yet another run of real intent as she finished just shy of her own Irish 200 metres record in finishing second at the Istvan Gyulai meeting in Szekesfehervar, Hungary on Tuesday evening.
Suitably attired in a green and white Nike kit, with pink swoosh, having confirmed that professional contract on Sunday, Adeleke lined up against the fastest 200m woman alive, Shericka Jackson from Jamaica, starting in the lane inside of her.
Moving down from her now specialised event, the 400m, Adeleke started brilliantly, marginally ahead of Jackson as they came into the homestretch, before the Jamaican made her experience tell, pulling away to take the win in 22.02 seconds.
Then came Adeleke in 22.36, just .02 off her Irish record of 22.34 seconds, clocked in Gainesville in April. Third place went to Anthonique Strachan from the Bahamas, in 22.45, ahead of the American Kayla White, who ran 22.51, all of whom have faster lifetime bests than Adeleke.
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Still only 20, she was, on lifetime bests, the slowest of the eight woman. But her sheer racing ability again proved her greatest asset.
Jackson, 29, won the World Championships title in Oregon last summer in 21.45 seconds and only the late Florence Griffith-Joyner has run faster, with her world record time of 21.34 from 1988.
After this, the latest stop on the Continental Gold Tour, Adeleke will now make her Diamond League debut in Monaco on Friday over her now chosen distance of 400m. There she gets to test herself against the American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone for the first time. The world record holder in the 400m hurdles is running the flat event this year, and won the US Championships last weekend in a time of 48.71.
On Sunday evening, after much talk and anticipation, Adeleke confirmed she would forego her final year of eligibility at the University of Texas in Austin to take up a professional running contract. Last month she improved her Irish record to 49.20 seconds when winning the NCAA title in Texas last month, already reaching the pinnacle of US collegiate athletics.
Adeleke’s former Texas team-mate Julien Alfred was also making her professional debut in Hungary, winning the women’s 100m in 10.89, ahead of the US champion Sha’Carri Richardson, second in 10.97.
Adeleke’s move also follows that of her two big rivals on the US collegiate scene, with Britton Wilson and Talitha Diggs also announcing their move into the professional ranks in recent weeks.
