The countdown to the 2024 Olympic Games is well underway, with athletes across the globe dreaming about claiming a medal in Paris.
Steeped in history and brimming with culture, the French capital promises to host Games unlike any other – celebrating athletic prowess, unity and human achievement.
Iconic venues such as the Stade de France and historic landmarks like the Eiffel Tower will provide a breathtaking backdrop for athletes to etch their names into Olympic history.
One of the athletes bidding to make history at the upcoming Paris Olympics is Rhasidat Adeleke, who has established herself as one of the finest sprinters in Europe.
Read on as we look at Adeleke’s rise up the ranks before assessing whether she can defy the bookmakers’ odds by medalling this summer.
Adeleke Shows Early Promise
From a promising junior sprint double at the Irish Schools championships for Presentation College as a 14-year-old, Adeleke has steadily built an impressive track record on the international stage.
Her silver medal in the 200 metres at the European Youth Olympic Festival held in Hungary in 2017 marked the beginning of her remarkable journey.
She subsequently claimed gold and silver medals at the European Under-18 Championships in Gyor and the World Under-20 Championships in Tampere, respectively.
Adeleke dominated the European Youth Olympic Festival in Azerbaijan with another sprint double in 2019, claiming victory in the 100m and 200m races.
She secured her first senior national outdoor title in 2021 by winning the 100m/200m sprint double, becoming the first woman to achieve the feat at the European Under-20 Championships since 2011.
This success earned her a scholarship at the University of Texas in Austin. Continuing her upward trajectory, she impressed in the United States Collegiate Indoor Championships.
Adeleke finished fifth in the 400-metre final at the European Championships held in Munich in 2022, setting an Irish record of 50.53 seconds.
The 21-year-old’s meteoric rise promises an exciting future on the international stage, and the Paris Olympics could serve as a platform for her to claim more glory on the global scene.
Irish Sprinter Starts 2024 in Style
Adeleke kicked off 2024 with a bang, smashing two Irish records in less than an hour at the Dr Martin Luther King Jr Invitational in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The Dubliner picked up where she left off last year, taking Irish sprinting to unprecedented heights and increasing her popularity across the Emerald Isle.
Her blazing 7.15 seconds in the 60m not only secured victory but propelled her to second on the 2024 world rankings and shattered the previous national record she ran at the NCAA Championships in 2022 (7.17s) by 0.02 seconds.
Adeleke returned to the track for the 200m less than an hour later, facing off against her training partner in Texas and NCAA champion Julien Alfred.
Competing from the outside lane, Adeleke came in second, with Alfred claiming victory in 22.28. But the Dubliner powered through to set a new Irish record of 22.49 seconds, surpassing the 22.52 she ran at the same venue last year.
These back-to-back record-breaking performances are a resounding message that suggests 2024 could be a spectacular year for Adeleke and Irish sprinting.
The Irish phenom already boasts national records in indoor 60m, 200m, 300m and 400m, plus outdoor 200m, 300m and 400m – leaving only Sarah Lavin’s 100m outdoor record (11.27) unclaimed.
Will Adeleke Win a Medal in Paris?
If her track record is anything to go by, Adeleke should emerge from the prestigious Paris event with at least one medal in the bag.
The Irish sensation has the world at her feet, and will likely have online bookmakers running for cover when they are pricing up the sprint races at the Olympics.
Sports bettors in her homeland will be eager to show their support by wagering on Adeleke, and the best betting apps in Ireland could be set to make some sizeable payouts this summer.
While she still has plenty of room for improvement, Adeleke has already shown she has the talent to upset the odds at the highest level.
Given her current rate of progress, she could have Irish sports fans and bettors dancing in the streets of Paris during the Olympics.
Irish sprint success at the Olympics is an extremely rare thing, but Adeleke appears to have the talent to make a massive impression this summer.
