Rhasidat Adeleke smashes Irish 100m record while taking National Championships title

With a performance of pure poise, peerless speed and unstoppable power, Rhasidat Adeleke smashed the Irish 100m record to take gold at the 123.ie National Track and Field Championships in Santry today, the 21-year-old Dubliner clocking 11.13 (+0.7m/s) to defeat chief rival Sarah Lavin of Emerald AC (11.37).

Adeleke’s time obliterated the previous record of 11.27, set by Lavin in Switzerland last year, and it means the Tallaght sprinter now holds every Irish sprint record, indoors and outdoors, from 60m to 400m. It was her last race on Irish soil ahead of the Paris Olympics, with Adeleke due to return to Texas in the coming days before a number of races on the European circuit ahead of the Games.

The race was watched by the biggest crowd in recent memory at the nationals, with Sunday’s ticket sales doubled compared to last year following the success of the Irish team at the Europeans in Rome, where Adeleke won two relay medals along with individual silver in the 400m.

Earlier in the day, Adeleke had coasted to victory in her semi-final in 11.54, with Lavin doing likewise in hers with 11.51.

Thomas Barr produced a dominant display to win his 12th national title in the men’s 400m hurdles, the Ferrybank athlete falling short of the automatic Olympic qualifying standard of 48.70 when clocking 50.61. That will not strengthen Barr’s position on world rankings and he now faces a nervous wait to see if he’s done enough to make the Olympics. Going into the race he was just inside the qualification quota, sitting 39th on the Road to Paris list, with the top-40 set to qualify.

“If I was coming out and it was just a national title at stake, I’d be very happy walking away but the race went about as badly as any race has gone all year and it was crunch time today,” he said. “I took the first hurdle on the wrong leg and it really threw me off and I didn’t come home as strong as I did yesterday. To be honest I completely messed up this weekend. I’ll probably fall outside the rankings but that’s the game. The margins are so fine. I’ve a feeling I’m going to be the nearly man.”

Nicola Tuthill of UCD gave her Olympic qualification chances a boost by throwing 68.54m to take gold in the women's hammer, the Bandon native now facing a nervous wait to see if her world ranking will secure her a place at the Games, with today the last day to register eligible performances.

Michelle Finn of Leevale took a facile win in the women’s 3000m steeplechase, clocking 10:05.25, with Billy Coogan of Kilkenny City Harriers winning the men’s 3000m steeplechase in 9:11.69. Jennifer Sawyer of St Laurence O’Toole took gold in the women’s 400m hurdles in 60.87.

More to follow...

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