There were contrasting fortunes in the 400m heats for Adeleke, Sharlene Mawdsley and Sophie Becker
Ireland's sprint queen Rhasidat Adeleke wants to establish a purple reign for Ireland at Paris 2024 on the eye-catching new Stade de France track.
"And sometimes it's expected as a given and the way I am, I’m not happy to participate, I want to achieve my goals. My goal wasn’t just to come to the Olympics, my goal was to do something special. And that’s what my goal will remain. She added: "I was really excited to get out there. I’ve been here for a week so I was kind of itching to run but it felt amazing, felt really calm and I’m really excited for the next round."
"I was really excited because the track is purple and my favourite colour is purple. I was just like, 'yeah, let’s go out there, it’s something new. My first Olympics so it's all a new experience and I’m taking it every step of the way." "I’d have bet anything she would do it and I knew she was going to perform on the day so to see it come to fruition was so, it inspired me to play my own part and do what I know I can do."
Meanwhile, Sharlene Mawdsley and Sophie Becker have confirmed that they will compete in the 4oom repechage on Tuesday morning after failing to qualify automatically for the semi-finals through the heats. "We made peace afterwards," she smiled. "I congratulated her and I said well done, and she thanked me so I think that’s water under the bridge now. It was hard because I was telling myself I had it. I was feeling the fatigue but I was like, 'You have it, you have it”, and it just fell short.
In contrasting fashion, Becker was disappointed as she finished sixth in the first heat in a time of 51.84, outside her PB. Becker went off like a rocket but tied up around the final bend.
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