Rhasidat Adeleke has withdrawn from the 400 metres at the Monaco Diamond League meeting this Friday evening, leaving a question mark over her chances of qualifying for next month’s European Championships.
By her own admission Adeleke found her comeback 400m race in Eugene last Friday “beyond rough”, the Dublin sprinter finishing a distant ninth in 52.26, over three seconds outside her Irish record and her slowest time since first moving up to 400m at the start of 2022.
That time was also well outside the 51.20 standard for the European Championships in Birmingham next month. With a qualification deadline of July 26th, the same day as the National Championships in Santry, time is running out for Adeleke to find the improvement she needs.
Up until Wednesday morning Adeleke had still been on the start list for Monaco, part of a world class field which includes Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic, who ran 48.48 to smash the Diamond League record in Paris last weekend.
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In an Instagram post on Sunday evening, Adeleke wrote: “First 400 in a year - beyond rough. It’s easy to share the wins, but it’s hard to be vulnerable – displaying the injuries, bad days and challenges. No excuses or seeking pity, just reality. But finally made it to the line, will keep building from here.”
Adeleke had good memories of Monaco, winning there in 2024 in 49.17 seconds, her second fastest time after her Irish record of 49.07 set at the 2024 European Championships in Rome, when winning silver. However, she also withdrew from the event this time last year.
Adeleke did start out reasonably aggressive over the first 150m in Oregon last Friday, running in lane three, and was still holding up well at the 200m mark.
She then started to lose ground on the runners outside of her around the top bend. Coming into the homestretch in seventh, Adeleke then faded further in the last 50m to finish in ninth and last, the only runner not to break 52 seconds.
