Sarah Healy secured the first medal for the Irish team, the first gold for Team Ireland at the U18 European Championships and today there was more success for the Irish athletes as 15-year old sensation Rhasidat Adeleke took home gold in the 200m and Sophie O'Sullivan drove hard for the line to take silver in the 800m.
Showing incredible speed and power, Rhasidat held off France’s Gemima Joseph who was striving to cross first but Rhasidat stormed to victory in 23.52. Shedding tears of joy after the race, Rhasidat spoke of her shock and delight. At just 15-years old, the sky’s the limit for Tallaght Athletic Club’s superstar! Earlier in the day, Rhasidat won her semi-final in what was a PB at the time of 23.77 seconds, and then she shaved more time off in the final.
A brilliant run from Rhasidat Adeleke in the 200m final at the European U18 Championships to claim Ireland's second gold medal of the event! 🥇🥇 pic.twitter.com/wDZed643Dk
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) July 7, 2018
In the 800m, Sophie O’Sullivan capped off a fantastic day for the Irish as she brought home the silver medal. Making her first appearance representing Ireland, Sophie tactically held on to the leading group in the first lap, moving with the leaders as they began to pull away. O'Sullivan made her move on the back straight, pushing hard around the bend. It was a dog fight in the final straight, with two competitors hot on her heels but Sophie managed to hold on, pushing herself to cross the line in second position. Testing her limits, Sophie ran 2:06.05, an official PB and a silver medal for Team Ireland!
A dominant run in the 800m final for Great Britain's Keely Hodgkinson in a championship record of 2:04.84 and a medal for O'Sullivan!
Sonia O'Sullivan's daughter Sophie claimed a silver medal on her championship debut no less. pic.twitter.com/dHBqUJ9Z9o— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) July 7, 2018
In the medley race, four athletes raced for Ireland in the following distances in the relay; 100m, 200m, 300m and 400m. Team Ireland narrowly missed out on making the final finishing fourth in their heat. The team of Adeyemi Talabi (Longford), Patience Jumbo-Gula (St Gerard’s Dundalk), Rachel McCann (North Down) and Simone Lalor (St Laurence O’Toole) ran a combined time of 2:13.64. A great experience on the international stage!
In the afternoon session, Miriam Daly ran a personal best of 61.35 in the 400m hurdles semi-finals. Miriam who is captaining Team Ireland at the championships fought off illness to put in a gutsy performance.
Team captain Miriam Daly on her pb of 61.35 for 6th in her 400m hurdles semifinal #Gyor18 pic.twitter.com/peWLy91VUb
— Athletics Ireland (@irishathletics) July 7, 2018
Sarah Healy will be in action tomorrow at 6.10pm in the 1500m Final. She is seeded first, running the fastest qualification time. Demonstrating outstanding capability, we look forward to seeing Sarah in action again tomorrow. The U18 European Championships can be watched live on Eurosport.
