It’s been suitably decorated in the purple colour of royalty and the Stade de France is now magnificently poised to crown the new Olympic kings and queens of the track and field. Only it won’t be graced by Irish sprint queen Rhasidat Adeleke for a few days yet.
Friday’s opening athletics sessions will reach a thrilling crescendo with the first track final, the always fascinating men’s 10,000m showdown, but before that Ireland will look to make another Olympic final of the 4x400m mixed relay.
They made it in Tokyo, the event added to the Olympics for the first time. They’ll need to make it without Adeleke, who is putting all her focus on the individual 400m, unwavering in her belief she can contend for a medal against the best one-lap runners in the world.
The 21-year-old Dublin sprinter needed it to be this way, couldn’t entertain any element of doubt that she couldn’t win a medal in her own event, and so might be better off trying first in the relay. All in or nothing at all.
The heats are set for 7.10pm (Irish time), with the final then set for the Saturday night (8.55pm), and Ireland were drawn in heat two against Italy, Great Britain, the Dutch, Germany, Nigeria and the Dominican Republic, who won silver in Tokyo, and also Ukraine. The first three in each heat qualify automatically for the final, plus the two fastest losers, and that’s certainly not beyond the Irish quartet of Chris O’Donnell, Sophie Becker, Thomas Barr and Sharlene Mawdsley.
Ireland are ranked third fastest behind the Dutch and the Dominicans, with their Irish record of 3:09.92. That was set when winning the European gold medal in Rome in June when Adeleke ran the second leg.
The gold medal in Tokyo was won by Poland in 3:09.87, where Ireland finished in eighth. Heat one appears marginally more difficult as it contains world champions USA and defending Olympic champions Poland, and also hosts France.
“I think we have a really strong team at the moment, and there is a huge amount of depth,” says Barr, at 32 competing in his third Games. “It’s the Olympics and I’m not going to say it is going to be any small feat, but I still think we can make a final.”
Adeleke will begin her medal quest in the women’s 400m on Monday (heats, 12.50pm), then Wednesday (semi-finals, 8.45pm) with that final on next Friday (8.0pm).
Adeleke’s Irish record of 49.07 seconds from Rome is the third fastest time in the world this year among the 400m entries, although two women – 2023 world champion Marileidy Paulino from the Dominican Republic has run 48.76, and 2019 world champion Salwa Eid Naser from Bahrain has run 48.14 – are also significantly faster. Paulino is also unbeaten this year.
At the last Diamond League meeting in London before Paris, 23-year-old Nickisha Pryce from Jamaica won in a new national record of 48.57 seconds, the fastest time in the world this year. That was ahead of Poland’s European champion Natalia Kaczmarek, who improved her national record to 48.90 seconds.
There is still every chance Adeleke will race the women’s 4x400m on the following weekend if Ireland can qualify without her.
Becker and Mawdsley both also qualified in the individual 400m and are happy to commit to the relay as well. “Obviously Rhasidat is a star so it would be more difficult without her,” says Mawdsley, “but I would still be going in with that hunger, as I would whether she is there or not.”
The honour of being the first Irish athlete to grace the track goes to Cathal Doyle, a 26-year-old from Clonliffe Harriers in Dublin. He is drawn in the first of three heats of the men’s 1,500m on Friday morning (10.10am Irish time), alongside the likes of Josh Kerr, Britain’s world champion,
Doyle is among the most improved athletes this year. He first joined Clonliffe at age 13, improving his best this year from 3:36.85 to 3:34:09, and scorching a 3:52.06 mile on his home track last month.
Inspired by 1996 Olympian and fellow Clonliffe runner Niall Bruton, Doyle qualified via the event quota (41 of 44), displaying brilliant race tactics all year, never finishing outside the top three.
Only the top six advance, all others going into the new repechage round, offering them another shot at qualifying for the semi-finals, but with an extra race in their legs.
“It’s about having confidence, it’s not rocket science,” says Doyle, now living in Bettystown and training in Plymouth under coach Jon Bigg. “And just do what I’ve been doing all season. You’re going to have to do it at a faster pace and just do the basics right. And I think I’m a dark horse. I always think I am, and I think I am still. So just take each race as it comes and go with the flow really.
“There’s been a few big names that I’ve raced against this season, I’m in the call room, and people see me wearing my Clonliffe vest and everyone’s in their sponsored kits and all. That used to, not bother me, but it probably does affect you. A year or two ago you probably think, ‘oh they’re a pro’ but then I’m beating them in every race now. So now it doesn’t.”
Luke McCann is in heat two with Timothy Cheruiyot, the 2019 world champion from Kenya, and Andrew Coscoran goes in heat three with Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the defending champion from Norway.
Let the oldest of the Olympic racing games begin.
