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Rhasidat Adeleke after finishing fourth this evening. James Crombie/INPHO

Rhasidat Adeleke finishes fourth in historic 400m Olympic final

21-year-old becomes first Irishwoman to compete in sprint final at Olympic Games.

IRELAND’S RHASIDAT ADELEKE has missed out on a medal after finishing fourth in the Women’s 400m at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

The 21-year-old Dubliner clocked a time of 49.28 after another brilliant run at the Stade de France.

Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino won gold in an Olympic record time of 48.17, while Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain and Poland’s Natalia Kaczmarek finished second and third respectively.

Screenshot 2024-08-09 at 19.22.40 Olympics.com. Olympics.com.

Adeleke wrote her name into history as the first Irishwoman to compete in a sprint final at the Olympics.

Running from Lane 4, she made a bright start on a wet track as a strong Irish contingent cheered her on.

The Tallaght star moved into medal contention, but was ultimately surpassed by Kaczmarek on the home straight and fell short of her personal best of 49.07. It was another fourth-place finish following last August’s World Championships.

“I don’t know,” a disappointed Adeleke told RTÉ’s David Gillick as she tried to find the words afterwards.

“Honestly, happy to be healthy. I gave it my all out there and tonight wasn’t meant to be. I just hope there is so much more to come in the future.

“I was just trying to stay in contention. I wasn’t fazed too much as to where I was in the race. I just wanted to make sure I executed my own race and didn’t follow anyone else. It is what it is, I just have to move forward with it.”

“Absolutely, it was [tough],” she added. “I don’t think it was anything beyond what I could do. I just feel like it wasn’t meant to be today, and that’s okay. I’ll move on, I’m so grateful for everyone’s support along the way.

“With all the Irish fans in the stadium, it felt like home. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to give them a medal but hopefully in the future.”

Adeleke is expected to round out her first Olympic Games in the 4x400m women’s relay final tomorrow night.

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