'Paris, here we come' was the gist of the message from Rhasidat Adeleke after her fourth-placed finish in the women’s 400-metre final at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
The Tallaght woman had ran herself into third position mid-way down the home straight but was edged out of the medals by Sada Williams of Barbados.
The gold medal went to the Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino in a time of 48.76 with Poland’s Natalia Kaczmarey second in 49.57. Adeleke clocked a time of 50.13.
After her run, Adeleke declared that next year's Olympic Games are the ultimate goal: "The main reason I turned professional was so I won’t be in the same predicament with college next year. I’ll be more fresh and be able to actually choose my races to gear towards the Olympic Games."
Adeleke stormed to an NCAA gold medal in Texas back in June, running a time of 49.20.
"The time I ran in June would’ve came second [today]. Hopefully next year I’ll be in a better position to do that."
48.76 national record 🤩@Marileidy_P is your 400m world champion 💪
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 23, 2023
#WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/7RvMzY8EUu
Adeleke had secured a final spot by breaking the 50-second mark in her semi-final on Monday on the back of a strong final half. She had pledged to start quicker this time around rather than leaving herself so much work to do in the final 200 metres.
"I got there a bit faster than I did in the previous rounds but I probably felt it then at the end, in the last 50 [metres]," she said. "At the end of the day, I tried my best and that’s all I can do.
"I had to give it my all, stay in contention, that was just what I had to do really."
"I’m just trying to keep making more progress to be able to compete with the best in the world."
"It’s really just trying to stay in shape and being able to pick my races and make sure I’m able to peak for the major championships."
"Even if I’m disappointed with myself, I’m just happy to be able to put some smiles on people’s faces. Takes pictures with them, say Hi to them. Talk to them and just say thank you for supporting me at this time because it really means a lot."
