Olympic dress rehearsals don’t come more telling than the Monaco Diamond League, and Rhasidat Adeleke gave her Paris prospects a magnificent boost with a stunning victory in the 400m on Friday night, two weeks before the Games begin.
With a performance that was as beautifully composed as it was utterly dominant, Adeleke took the win in 49.17 seconds, the second-fastest time of her life, just short of her Irish record of 49.07 set last month when winning the European Championship silver medal in Rome.
Second place went to her old Dutch rival Lieke Klaver, who improved her lifetime best to 49.64 seconds. Kendall Ellis from the US was some way back in third, clocking 50.39, having won their Olympic Trials last month.
In truth they were always running for the minor positions, Adeleke first out of the blocks inside the Stade Louis II, starting in lane five, quickly opening up some daylight on Ellis in the lane inside her.
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Rhasidat Adeleke keeps plenty in the tank as she cruises to victory in 400m heats
“It felt really good,” Adeleke said. “You know, it felt like a good, controlled run. Very smooth. I’m really happy how that went. I think I’m in the right spot for the rest of the season, so yeah, I’m looking forward to how I can do.
“I just need to make sure I stay focused and all eyes on the Olympics, so hopefully I’ll be there when it matters. Anything can happen in Paris as it is a championship, I just want to run fast, but the women’s 400m this season has been spectacular.”
After her silver medal run in Rome, Adeleke’s coach Edrick Floréal made no secret of the fact he wanted her to attack the first 200 metres with a lot more aggression, and the 21-year-old from Tallaght did exactly that, running close to 22 seconds at halfway.
It was Adeleke’s first race since she won the Irish 100m title in another national record of 11.13 last Sunday week, having come from a training camp in Sweden, and she will race one last time before Paris at next Saturday’s London Diamond League.
[ Rhasidat Adeleke breaks Irish 100m record in perfect Paris tune-upOpens in new window ]
Five days after becoming the fifth-fastest women’s 1,500m runner in history, clocking 3:50.83 in Paris, Australia’s Jessica Hull became the quickest 2,000m runner of all time, setting a world record of 5:19.70, taking almost two seconds off the 5:21.56 set by Francine Niyonsaba in 2021.
Ciara Mageean found herself unable to go with that sort of pace and, as she did in Paris last Sunday, finished back in 10th place, clocking 5:43.06, her Olympic preparations a little off colour at this point.
Meanwhile at the Morton Games in Santry, Nick Griggs produced one of the highlights when adding another Irish under-23 record to his name, the 19-year-old from Tyrone running a brilliant 13:13.07, a huge improvement on his previous best of 13:36.47, moving him to number six on the Irish all-time list.
Victory there went to the Kenyan Amos Langat, also improving his best by some 12 seconds to win in 13:12.44. Sarah Lavin enjoyed another winning send-off to Paris in the 100m hurdles in 12.82, ahead of Ebony Morrison from Liberia, second in 12.92.
Sophie O’Sullivan also produced a storming finish in the 1,500m, nailing second in 4:05.77 behind Shannon Flockhart from the US, who won in 4:04.98, before Cathal Doyle delighted the home crowd with a stunning win in the Morton Mile in 3:52.06.
