Rhasidat Adeleke’s unbreakable mindset is something that undoubtedly separates her from the pack, and that’s beginning to come to the fore more and more given her ever inclining rise to the top of the athletics world.
The Tallaght sprinter recently helped the Irish 4x400m mixed relay team clinch a bronze medal and Olympic qualification at the World Relay Championships in the Bahamas, as well as yet another ticket to the Paris Games for the 4x400m women’s team too.
But where does her elite drive come from?
“My fear of failure, but also my hunger for success. I want to be successful so bad. I want to be the best at everything I can do, and track is one of those things,” the 21 year old told Her Sport.
That attitude saw her run an unbelievable 48.45 in the 4x400m mixed relay final, a whole 1.18 seconds faster than the world renowned Netherlands athlete Femke Bol. Considering she had already run a number of races, at a blistering pace, in the days prior.
🤯Rhasidat Adeleke is in absolutely flying form 🔥
🏃♀️She’s right up there with the world’s best, and the World Relays is the Bahamas this week proved it!
👏 We explain why right here 👀 #athletics #irishathletics #womeninsport pic.twitter.com/QXM3nMDHJu— Her Sport (@HerSportDotIE) May 10, 2024
"I surprised myself, to see how strong I was. Each round I was getting faster. I was able to get out (in the final), hold it the whole way and continue to catch people,” she says.
“When you think about it, it’s like reps. Doing the couple of runs the opening night, they were like reps: putting that mindset on that it’s going to hurt but it’s going to be okay, and that’s like training.”
“When you are exhausted and dying with three more sets to go, you ask, ‘How can I do this?’ The mindset you have to turn on is, ‘This is going to hurt but it’s going to be worth it’” she adds.
As for which races she’ll prioritise come the European Championships, it’s a decision she tends to leave in the hands of someone she trusts.
“Honestly, it really just depends on what my coach says," she explains, referring to her confidant and mentor Edrick Floréal.
It does however seem to come down to one main thing - which races will amount to the “the least amount of energy consumption” in the lead up to the illustrious quadrennial competition that is the Olympic Games.
“The 400 has two rounds back to back, and the 4×400 has another two rounds, so if I can do two 400s rather than four 400s, I think he would prefer that.
"If he wants me to run the relays, I'll run the relays. It’s all down to him as he is very experienced. He knows my training, what I can do, what my fitness is looking like.
"If he thinks it is something that is possible, I’d love to do the relays, because I’d love to win a relay medal with my team. But if he thinks it won’t allow me to do what I should be able to do in an individual event, it will have to be that way."
Adeleke and Ireland have always known they’re a a force to be reckoned with, even if the rest of the world are only just not catching up to that fact.
“I think we have really put ourselves on the map. The Bahamas really put us on other people’s radars. Everyone was talking about Ireland,” she recalls.
“Even when we were about to run, on the [stadium] screen we were the country focus, for each relay. It definitely shows that people should be wary of us, and we are climbing to the top of the food chain when it comes to relays and other events.
“It gives us confidence to know that yeah, these teams may have so-and-so, but we are just as fast.
“I think now, especially after the last couple of performances, people are seeing my potential. I’m climbing up there and being recognised as good competition.”
Adeleke, who this week graduated early from University of Texas at Austin in order to fully pursue her Olympic dream, leaves her college days behind her with many lessons.
With a degree in Corporate Communications and a more than budding athletics career in hand, one takeaway powers over them all - stick with it.
It’s a learning that also applies to her sporting experience, and it’s a view she’s passionate to speak about given the reality that one in five Irish children dropout of sport between primary and secondary school.
It’s a fact that she hopes to see change in the future, in conjunction with Allianz’s #StopTheDrop campaign.
“I knew what I wanted out of sport, I believed in my potential. Even though I might have had a thought of dropping out, it was never really something I was going to do,” she says.
“Even if I wasn’t successful at track and field, I would definitely have stayed in the sport because of the people I have met, the connections I’ve made. Taking a run or going for a session with friends can take your mind off so many other things in life.
“It is so important to have that avenue.”
What Rhasidat Adeleke says in 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 viral post race interview following the World Relay Championships over the weekend has social media reeling over the Tallaght woman’s enthusiastic aura, great work ethic and unrivalled mindset.
Read here for more👇https://t.co/7Ax0jgxIpU— Her Sport (@HerSportDotIE) May 7, 2024
Want to read more on Rhasidat Adeleke’s unbreakable mindset ? See here: What Rhasidat Adeleke Says In That Viral Post Race Interview Everyone Is Talking About
Allianz Insurance ambassador Rhasidat Adeleke is part of Allianz’s #StopTheDrop campaign. While sport is a part of our national DNA, 1 in 5 children stop participating in sport at the transition from primary to secondary school. As the largest insurer of schools in Ireland, insuring over 500,000 children, Allianz want to play a part in stopping the drop in participation. Visit allianz.ie/StopTheDrop for more.
