Rhasidat Adeleke centre stage as Irish relay teams seek Paris Olympic qualification

It was described by Sonia O’Sullivan at the time as one of the worst selection decisions ever made by Athletics Ireland, and later by Texas University head coach Edrick Floreal as an “awful mistake”.

Rhasidat Adeleke herself was a little more diplomatic, saying she was “disappointed” but at the same time not “surprised” – this being the decision by Athletics Ireland not to include her in the mixed 4x400m relay team that qualified for the delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, despite Adeleke running one of the fastest 400m relay splits, 50.96 seconds, a few weeks earlier.

All water under the bridge now it seems, as three years on, the 21-year-old Adeleke is an integral part of both the Irish women’s 4x400m and mixed 4x400m relay looking to secure their Paris Olympic qualification when 893 of the world’s finest sprinters, from 54 countries, descend on Nassau in the Bahamas for this weekend’s World Athletics Relays. It should be fast and fun.

The task at hand is not undaunting and entirely clear: the top 14 teams in each of the five relays events will automatically seal qualification places for Paris, the remaining two places based on top lists at the end of the qualification period on June 30th.

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First up, just after midnight Saturday Irish time, are the mixed 4x400m heats, followed two hours later by the women’s 4x400m heats; a total of 27 teams have entered the women’s 4x400m and 30 in the mixed 4x400m.

On Saturday night, the top two teams in each heat will advance to Sunday’s final and also secure their qualification for Paris. All other teams also compete on Sunday in the additional repechage round, where again the top two teams in each heat make Paris. Finishing positions in the finals will also help to determine lane draws at the Olympics.

“I think that we can definitely do it, so I’m really excited to be able to put on the vest again and be able to show off the best we can do,” Adeleke said last month, after confirming she would travel from her training base in Texas to join the rest of the Irish squad.

“You’re fighting for more than yourself, you’re fighting for your team and trying to make sure your team qualifies for the Olympics. It’s going to be my first championships in a while and it’s just so nice for me to start off with relays, because I guess it just brings back that team aspect that I love so much.”

Also an integral part of both teams is Sharlene Mawdsley, who was with the rest of the relay squad at a 10-day training camp in Florida, before moving on to Nassau on Wednesday.

For Mawdsley, who last August helped Ireland qualify for both those relay finals at the World Championships in Budapest, there is further motivation as although she was part of the mixed relay quartet that secured Tokyo Olympic qualification, she wasn’t selected to travel either.

“Maybe at the time it was a bit raw,” Mawdsley said last week, the 25-year-old who was also part of the women’s team that finished fifth at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow in March. “But I’m in good shape and I want to do the best I can for the team. That says a lot about how much I love the relays.

“And for me the plan is to run both on day one anyway then see how day one goes before we decide what to do on day two.”

It’s likely that Mawdsley will run the anchor leg in both events, with Adeleke possibly running the second leg in both. She has had a couple of individual races outdoor already season, at the Mt Sac Relays in California last month, finishing second in a high-quality international 200 metres in 22.61 seconds, before running that awesome wind-assisted 10.94 for 100m last weekend.

Thomas Barr has also set aside his hurdles ambitions to help the qualification cause, as he did for Tokyo. Cillin Greene, Jack Raftery and Christopher O’Donnell complete the men’s side, while Phil Healy, Sophie Becker, Róisín Harrison, Lauren Cadden and Rachal McCann complete the women’s squad.