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Malachy Clerkin: Bittersweet mix of heartbreak and pride on the Rhasidat Adeleke rollercoaster

Rhasidat Adeleke finished fourth in her 400m final while optimism grows in the IRFU about Dan Sheehan’s recovery

“Adeleke’s future ambition is now written in bold. Less than a year out from the Paris Olympics, the dream begins for real,” Ian writes ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy

Malachy Clerkin's face
Malachy Clerkin
Thu Aug 24 2023 - 09:53

Another day, another excruciating, exhilarating fourth place on the track at the World Athletics Championships. After Ciara Mageean on Tuesday, last night it was Rhasidat Adeleke’s turn to come agonisingly close to winning a medal on the global stage. Ian O’Riordan was in Budapest for us and his report captures the bittersweet mix of heartbreak and pride in what the 20-year-old Tallaght runner has achieved at such a young age. And, indeed, the heights she could yet reach.

“In running herself into a magnificent fourth place in her first World Championship final a week shy of turning 21,” Ian writes, “Adeleke’s future ambition is now written in bold. Less than a year out from the Paris Olympics, the dream begins for real.”

Philip Reid was on TV View duty and along with riding the Adeleke rollercoaster, he also found room for a great interview with Sarah Lavin, the Limerick hurdler who broke Derval O’Rourke’s long-standing Irish record in her semi-final. It wasn’t enough to make the final, possibly because she clattered the ninth hurdle along the way. “Sorry Derval,” she said. “I’ve a nice little shiner on my knee. My poor knee. I’ll have the ugliest knee.”

Elsewhere, Gerry Thornley brings positive news from the Ireland rugby camp in France, as optimism grows that Dan Sheehan will be able to take his place in the 33-man squad when it is announced on Monday. Andy Farrell will announce the team for Saturday’s game against Samoa in Bayonne this afternoon and it is likely to feature Rob Herring, with whom Gerry has an interview today, detailing his series of near misses when it comes to Ireland World Cup squads down the years.

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In golf, the season-ending Tour Championship starts today in East Lake, Atlanta. Nobody has won more of these than Rory McIlroy and he starts this year’s event three shots behind Scottie Scheffler. Which, when you consider he was 11 back with 17 holes to go last year, should be a doddle. Philip Reid’s preview has the lowdown on all the protagonists.

To finish, two brilliant columns. In the first, Ciarán Murphy hails the return of Jim McGuinness, not just to Donegal but to Gaelic football in general. Plenty of people have McGuinness down as the root of all the problems that currently beset the most popular sport in the country but Ciarán sees it in a more rounded way than that. “Kevin Heffernan and Mick O’Dwyer would have their supporters,” he writes, “but there’s an excellent case to be made that Jim McGuinness is the most influential coach in the history of Gaelic games.”

Finally, Dave Hannigan’s column unearths the amazing and long-forgotten story of how Saudi Arabia tried to use soccer to change their international reputation back in the 1970s, employing dear old Jimmy Hill of the BBC to do so. Almost half a century before LIV golf and Ronaldo and all the rest of it, the Saudis spent an eye-watering £25m trying to get soccer off the ground and making Hill extremely rich in the process. “The ridiculous sums of money involved were all people ever wanted to talk to him about,” Hannigan writes. “Human rights not so much. Funny that.”

Telly Watch:

In Budapest, Mark English runs in the semi-finals of the 800m around 8pm. Virgin Media will be showing it.

The first round of the Tour Championship will be on Sky Sports Golf, with coverage starting at 5pm. Rory McIlroy tees off at 6.49pm.