Adeyemi Talabi has been running for as long as she can remember.
The Longford native joined her club when she was six years old and she now also runs at The University of Texas at Arlington where she competes in the 100m, 200m and long jump.
At the beginning of May, Talabi hit two PBs at the same outdoor meet in Louisiana in both the 100m and the 200m.
“I ran the 100, and I finished it not knowing where I placed—I just knew I did well enough. I came to my coach and I was like what time did I run,” said Talabi. “Then the two, I was just like you know what, it's your last event, just go for it and I ended up getting a PB in that as well.”
Despite an incredible performance that day, the sprinter was just 0.01 seconds off from a medal.
“I wanted something to bring back to my mom,” said Talabi. “Obviously, I'm over there [Texas] by myself, and that's what was bothering me in the indoors—just that I miss the support of having people I'm familiar with around me.”
Being in an unfamiliar place surrounded by unfamiliar people can be a struggle for anyone, throw in the additional stress of training for a sport, and it could be very easy to get overwhelmed.
“I do kind of struggle with my mental health sometimes, so being on my own and making friends and then getting used to training—there was a lot to do,” said Talabi. “Now I'm actually excited to start my second year because I know what's happening now and at least I'm not clueless.”
Adeyemi Talabi found comfort in speaking with her coaches and counsellors, and even picked up journaling in order to sort through her thoughts.
“When I was over there, I felt extremely burnt out,” said Talabi. “I just felt like maybe I put too much pressure on myself which is something I'm going to kind of work on for next year.”
The 19-year-old is currently in Oregon at the moment for the World Athletics Championships where she is set to be running the 4x100m relay on 22 July alongside Sarah Leahy, Lauren Roy and Joan Healy.
“This is my first year at under 23 seniors, so I'm new to this,” said Talabi. “Even after diamond league, I got closer with the girls that I ran with so I was like yeah this is great.”
