Rhasidat Adeleke to run mixed relay final in boost to Ireland medal hopes

Rhasidat Adeleke has decided to run in the final of the mixed 4×400 metres on the opening night of the European Championships in Rome on Friday as Ireland look to make a fast start in the medal stakes.

The straight eight-team final is set for 9.20pm Irish time, with Ireland currently ranked second fastest behind defending champions the Netherlands. Britain, France, Poland, Belgium, the Czech Republic and hosts Italy will also line up.

Although the eight starting quartets have yet to be officially declared, it is understood that Chris O’Donnell, Adeleke, Thomas Barr and Sharlene Mawdsley will make up the now obligatory man-woman-man-woman running order (agreed in March 2022) for Ireland, three of which helped secure the bronze medals and Olympic qualification at last month’s World Relays in the Bahamas.

What is certain is that Cillín Greene, who ran the first leg in the Bahamas, will not be among the four as he’s already decided to focus on the Paris Olympics, thus skipping Rome entirely. Adeleke will again run the second leg, reportedly on the advice of her coach Edrick Floreal at the University of Texas, with Mawdsley again on the anchor leg.

The inclusion of both Adeleke and Mawdsley was influenced by the fact both have a bye into the individual 400m semi-finals on Sunday evening (7.05pm Irish time), that final then set for just over 24 hours later on Monday evening (8.50pm Irish time). O’Donnell and Barr are vastly experienced, with O’Donnell part of the mixed relay team that made the Olympic final in Tokyo.

When Adeleke took over the baton on the second leg in the Bahamas, it felt like some of the stadium crowd hushed in anticipation. That reputation to dazzle and excite also now precedes her, and on that occasion Adeleke’s split time of 48.45 seconds was the fastest ever recorded at the World Relays.

It was Adeleke’s first senior championship medal, and Rome now presents the chance for a couple more, given she’s also expected to be among the women’s 4x400m relay come next Wednesday’s closing session.

At those World Relays, Ireland finished in another national record of 3:11.53, improving on their 3:12.50 from the heats the previous day, after a thrilling final showdown against reigning World Champions the USA and the Netherlands. Adeleke’s split was faster than the Dutch star Femke Bol, who clocked 49.63 to hold off Mawdsley for the silver medal by just .08 of a second.

Incidentally, these championships were originally scheduled to take place after the Olympics, before some consultation with the member federations resulted in the majority of athletes agreeing they would prefer they happen before. In Adeleke’s case that’s clearly worked out for the better too, as she looks to build on her form ahead of the Olympics, now only 50 days away.

Bol won a magnificent triple at the last European Championships in Munich two years ago, including the 400m flat and hurdles, although she’s only running the individual 400m hurdles on this occasion.

The last time Ireland came home from these championships without a medal was 12 years ago, in Helsinki in 2012, when Fionnuala McCormack finished fourth in the 10,000m. The 2020 championships, set for Paris, were cancelled outright due to Covid-19.

The last thing Ciara Mageean needs any reminding of is her medal record at these championships. She’s finished second, third and fourth, the silver medal coming last time out in Munich, and she’ll look to go one better again when she opens her championships in Friday’s heats of the women’s 1,500m.

Joining Mageean is Sarah Healy, both coming to Rome fresh off a one-two finish in Ostrava last week, having both also broken 800m bests in the previous weeks.

Making Sunday’s final will be the least of their ambitions. Mageean and Healy are two of only five athletes entered ever to break the four-minute mark over 1500m, with none having bettered Mageean’s 3:55.87 national record set last September.

Mark English returns to yet another European Championships on Friday morning, having won 800m bronze in 2014 and again in 2022. His recent performance at last week’s Diamond League meet in Olso, running 1:44.95, is evidence of his excellent form.

Later on Friday, Israel Olatunde will look to repeat his heroics of two years ago, when he made the 100m final and lowered the Irish record to 10.17 seconds. His heats of the individual 100m start from 8.10pm.

Friday’s Irish athlete schedule (all times Irish, live on RTÉ 2)

Morning session

10:45 – Women’s 1,500m round one: Ciara Mageean, Sarah Healy

11:20 – Men’s 800m round one: Mark English

12:05 – Women’s 3,000m steeplechase round one: Michelle Finn

Evening session

18:55 – Men’s Shot Put qualification: Eric Favors

20:10 – Men’s 100m round one: Israel Olatunde

21:20 – Mixed 4x400m relay final

21:40 – Women’s 5,000m final: Jodie McCann – – 21:40 (22:40)