Rhasidat Adeleke scorched to a brilliant 100m gold at the European Athletics U20 Championships in Tallinn on Friday afternoon.
18-year-old Adeleke looked extremely impressive on Thursday, winning her heat in a time of 11.37 seconds before going on to finish first in her semi-final in 11.38 (the second fastest time overall).
She then wholly justified her favourite tag in today's final, with the towering Tallaght AC sprint star devouring the ground with her long stride to clock a winning time of 11.34.
Adeleke follows in the footsteps of her compatriot Gina Akpe-Moses, who won gold in the 100m at the same event in 2017.
"I'm delighted, I’m just so happy to be able to come here and to be consistent and compete," Adeleke said afterwards.
"I was only meant to do one event coming here because it’s been such a long season over in the NCAA but I’m just so happy to be able to come here and perform and do my country proud."
Adeleke is hoping that she and Akpe-Moses can lead a new generation of Irish sprinters.
"It just takes a couple of people to take those first few steps and there’s going to be a generation to follow," she said.
"There’s actually been a couple of Irish sprinters doing their thing but it’s just to indicate that we’re more than just a distance running country."
"I'm just so happy to be able to come here and perform and do my country proud." - Rhasidat Adeleke gives her reaction after a stunning gold medal at the European Athletics U20 Championships in Tallinn. #rtesport pic.twitter.com/gWeoKQD9hH
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) July 16, 2021
