Former Irish Olympian Derval O'Rourke has urged Rhasidat Adeleke to seize the opportunity on front of her in the women’s 400m final and "go back to just racing".
The Tallaght native qualified for the final on Friday night after finishing second behind Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser in her semi-final in a time of 49.95.
Adeleke did not seem as fluid on the home straight as during her heat, but held on to finish ahead of Henriette Jaeger of Norway, who was .22 of a second behind the Irish record holder.
The 21-year-old was the sixth fastest qualifier for the final, meaning she will race in Lane 4 on Friday night.
'She's ranked sixth (for the final). Anything above that in the final is a massive bonus – @RM_Heffernan and @DervalORourke look ahead to Rhasidat Adeleke’s 400m final potential strategy#RTESport #Paris2024
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 7, 2024
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"What an opportunity. She’s ranked sixth, so anything she does in that final above sixth - if you consider when she came in here, she wasn’t among the top six in time - is a massive bonus and she has to go back to being that kid in Santry and just racing," O’Rourke said.
The three-time Irish Olympian said Adeleke and her coach will analyse her semi-final performance and come up with a gameplan for the final.
"I think those first 200m... I was trying to go through some of stats; she went through in about 23.2 seconds, which is what she would’ve wanted, but the last 100m was actually quite slow compared to her last 100m in the Europeans, her last 100m when she won in Monaco in the Diamond League," she said.
O’Rourke added: "She’ll look at those stats with Coach Flo, she’ll also look at the lane. For the final on Friday night, she’s in Lane 4 and she’ll know who’s 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9.
"He will probably talk through with her what they [her competitors] will do ... but this is what you [Adeleke] have to do.
"You get a lane all to yourself, you’ve earned a lane all to yourself and you go out there and you run your own race but there needs to be a bit of awareness about what’s going on," she said.
Olympic Irish bronze medallist Rob Heffernan said that the final on Friday night will be "like going to a crucifixion because the pain you’re going to be in in the last 80m", but Adeleke will have a chance.
"When you accept that, and if you’re willing to fight, the possibilities for her are endless. And I know Paulino looked incredible, but you don’t know on Olympic final night, you just don’t know."
