Rhasidat Adeleke Praises Home Crowd After Breaking 100m Record

Rhasidat Adeleke paid tribute to her home crowd at Morton Stadium as the Olympic-bound runner broke the Irish 100m record.

Adeleke won gold at the National Championships with a time of 11.13 seconds, surpassing Sarah Lavin’s previous record of 11.27 seconds set last year. The Tallaght runner now holds every Irish women’s sprint record and had openly targeted the 100m record going into the event.

Speaking to RTÉ Sport afterwards, Adeleke expressed her desire to give her home crowd something special and expressed appreciation for their support throughout the year.

“I feel perfect, oh my God, the crowd is amazing,” she said. “Just coming out and seeing so many people here for an athletics competition. I love it, and it spurred me to break the record.

“I felt like I was at the Europeans or Worlds, literally. So many people are here, and it helped me appreciate what I’ve done. Having people supporting me means the world.

“I love competing in Morton Stadium at the Nationals. It’s essential to me to come back home and put on a performance for everyone who’s supported me throughout the season.

“I didn’t know what I was going to do. I haven’t been doing much speed work, focusing more on the 400m. But to come here and set the national record at 11.13, I’m thrilled with that.”

With the Olympics less than a month away, the National Championship served as an ideal tune-up for Adeleke. She plans to review her performance with coach Edrick Floreal before shifting her focus to the summer games in Paris.

“I’m going to have to see what Flo says. Sometimes I think something went great, and then he’s like, ‘No, you did this wrong, you did that wrong.’ But I think he’ll be happy with this, considering it’s not the hottest day, but it’s still nice out. So I think he’ll be pleased.”