Rhasidat Adeleke created history yesterday by taking home the gold at the NCAA Championships in Texas.
The Irish sprinter became the first from her country to win an NCAA title when she took the gold in a meet record time of 49.20, beating her previous 400-meter record. This was Adeleke’s seventh national record of the year.
The athlete also broke the Irish 200-meter record in April with a timing of 22.34. Adeleke was racing this time at the University of Texas on her familiar track. “[The race] was kind of a blur, I just went out trusting myself,” she remarked afterward.
“I’m not really sure what I went through the 200 [mark], I just put myself into position coming into the home stretch, and it was the kick at the end, which is something I’ve been doing well all season.”
Tánaiste Micheál Martin congratulated the Irish athlete on social media. He wrote on Twitter: “Congratulations Rhasidat Adeleke on another Irish 400m record. Superb run and victory. Everyone in Ireland so proud of all you are achieving.”
Following her most recent victory, the 20-year-old is now ranked in the top 20 of the World 400m all-time list. This was Ireland’s first NCAA victory since Mary Cullen won the 5000m gold for Providence College in 2006.