UPON CLIMBING THE stairs at Tallaght Athletic Club, the two must-have items of the evening are offered to The 42 as we enter the main hall. In one hand, a tricolour. In the other, a white hair bow that has become to Rhasidat Adeleke what the red polo shirt was to Tiger Woods, or the cut-off sleeve was to Trevor Giles.
All around us, young girls buzz around with their white bows proudly on display, while their parents discuss the main event.
A full hour before the Olympic women’s 400m final, the hall is bursting with nervous tension. The people of Tallaght AC have gathered here to watch an athletics superstar run in the biggest race of her life on the greatest stage of them all. They’re here to watch history as an Irish woman competes in an Olympic sprint final for the first time. Most importantly, they’re here to watch one of their own.
“What she has generated here tonight, not just for Tallaght Athletic Club, but the whole country getting behind her, I’ve been here 30-odd years in Tallaght and I’ve never seen the excitement generated here,” says club member Derek Quinn.
“It’s the first time Tallaght Athletic Club have had an Olympian. We’re so proud of her. In all her races we always get a bit nervous and excited for her, but we’re always there to support her no matter what way it goes, and no matter what way it goes tonight we’ll be doing the same.”
The first sign that you are entering Adeleke’s turf comes as you approach the clubhouse, with a poster on an upstairs window marking her two gold medals at the 2021 European U20 Championships in Estonia. In the main hall two banners celebrating her place at these Olympics line the doors. The walls are peppered with images of leading club members, young and old, while bunting in club colours of red and yellow is cross-sectioned with that of green, white and orange.
Adeleke joined Tallaght AC at the age of 12 in 2013, and had become a hero at the club long before she stepped onto the track in Paris this week.
“We’re all proud of Rhasidat here tonight,” says club chairman Gerry Wallace.
“We’re inundated now with phone calls about children who want to join the club, and no problem, we’ll take them all in. We’ll try and make another athlete out of a few of the kids that come along and we might have another Olympian, you know?”
“This place does be packed here on Tuesdays and Thursdays with the juveniles, all looking to take after Rhasidat,” explains Quinn.
Hopefully this just generates more interest. Not just in Tallaght, but through all athletics going forward.”
Every now and then the conversations around the hall are interrupted by cheers. The first erupts when Adeleke is shown warming up behind the scenes in Paris. The second comes when her face flashes up during an ad break in RTÉ’s pre-race coverage. By the time she’s shown entering the Stade de France to take her place in the starting blocks, the roof is ready to come off.
“As soon as she came out everybody went, ‘Ah, look at our girl!’” says Yemi Ojo, chair of the South Dublin Migrant Integration Forum. “I’m so excited to be part of it, physically. I just had to be here.
“Rhasidat representing Ireland tonight, it’s all great. We are all loving it. That is life for me. When you meet people, take them the way they are, love them. We are all human together.”
It’s clear the people of Tallaght admire Rhasidat the person just as much as Adeleke the athlete.
“She is very young and also a well-behaved, well-mannered young girl, and at the same time focused, so I see her doing great things,” Ojo continues.
“And from a humble home. Her mum is a good friend, and when you come from a good home, it reflects. It’s like a light that shines.”
The club hope Adeleke’s achievements in Paris spark another surge in interest, and that clubs like Tallaght all around the country can benefit.
Niamh Whelan is a Sinn Féin Councillor for Tallaght Central: “Rhasidat represents everything that’s brilliant about the working class and we need to now fund it (Olympic sports). It’s chronically underfunded and especially in working class areas. This has been a great week or 10 days, and we want more and we can do more. It’s really brought the community together.”
Adeleke is in her blocks. Towards the back of the hall, a woman to our left tells her daughter that she might not be able to watch. Adeleke is off, and the people of Tallaght roar her on. As she powers through the bend into the final 200m, bums lift off seats. As she kicks into third place, the woman to our left who couldn’t watch is now standing on her chair.
When she crosses in fourth, people turn to each other trying to gauge how they should feel. A young boy glances to his mother and asks, “Was it gold?” Fourth is a superb achievement, but for a brief moment, Tallaght AC thought they had an Olympic medalist.
“I was running the race like I could move her legs!” says Ojo.
“The excitement in the air… I was hungry before the race, but I’m no longer hungry after watching her, she came fourth! That is history in the making and if she can come fourth now, you wonder what will happen with a lot of support and with a lot of practicing. I can see her doing great things.”
Talk quickly turns to the future, and what Adeleke might achieve in the years ahead. At the front of the room, the past is remembered. On a small table facing the screen sits a picture of Johnny Fox, the coach who honed Adeleke’s talent when she first joined Tallaght. Fox’s family are seated close by, as they were earlier in the week for Adeleke’s semi-final race.
As proud as Tallaght are of their star athlete, they’re looking forward to getting her home.
“We’ll see what she has to say, but we’re happy for her,” says Wallace.
“What can you say? She did very, very well. She tried her best. It’s great that Tallaght has an Olympian in our club. There’s always next time.”
