In her own unprompted words Rhasidat Adeleke described the situation as “pretty tragic, honestly”, and with that gives clear indication of her only priority since finishing fourth in the Olympic 400 metres final in Paris earlier this month.
Because no matter what’s been said or done about certain athletes around her, Adeleke can only focus on her own race.
Which is why her fourth-place finish in the Silesia Diamond League meeting in Poland on Sunday, a near complete reprise of the Olympic final, “wasn’t where I wanted it to be, or what I was hoping for, but it still wasn’t a terrible performance” – especially given that “tragic” fact none of her luggage had arrived from her training base in Austin, Texas.
“So I didn’t have any of my stuff, my food, I didn’t have anything. I hold my stuff very dearly, and not having my stuff there threw me off a lot.”
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She is speaking from back in Austin, her luggage finally arriving just before she left Silesia, and is training for one last race at the Diamond League final in Brussels on September 13th.
Despite a distinctly more audacious run on Sunday, Adeleke ultimately had to settle for the same result as Paris, Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic and Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser, who won gold and silver, taking first and second again, passing her around the final bend, before Poland’s Natalia Kaczmarek also pipped Adeleke on the line.
Naser’s presence in Paris had already caused controversy, given she won the silver medal in a season best of 48.53 seconds, after returning from a two-year ban imposed in 2021 for missing three doping tests within a 12-month period.
Last Thursday, news broke that the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had issued a notice of charge against the Bahrain Athletics Association (BAA) for “serious anti-doping rule violations” and “historical breaches of the World Athletics anti-doping rules” just eight months before the Olympics.
Adeleke, who also got “really sick after Paris” and unquestionably felt some mental and physical fatigue in Silesia, insists she is not dwelling on the inclusion of Naser in Paris or elsewhere, although it does make her wonder if she is competing on an entirely level playing field.
“Yeah it’s kind of sad, sometimes, when you think about it. Knowing how hard I work and knowing how much I sacrifice and how much I do to perform at my best abilities, and that fear factor of I guess if people aren’t doing the same. It is a shame but there’s nothing I can do about that.
“It’s all about justice prevailing and making sure that we are in a clean sport and people doing their part and me doing my part. So other than that, there’s nothing really much I can do. I can’t control what other people are doing. Yeah, just hoping that that’s not the position we’re in.”
For Adeleke, who turns 22 on Thursday, the situation with Bahrain has also highlighted the need for more “lifelong consequences” for athletes and countries in breach of serious anti-doping violations.
Although the AIU stopped short of recommending an outright ban, it resulted in Bahrain being limited to enter a maximum of 10 athletes in Paris, and the BAA agreeing to spend up to $7.3 million over four years to address the doping and integrity risk in athletics in Bahrain.
A ban was imposed on Bahrain from competing in any other World Athletics Series events for 12 months from June 1st, 2024, although there was no further sanction by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), with Naser still free to compete in the Diamond League as it’s not part of the World Athletics Series.
“I’m not really sure how that all works,” Adeleke says, “But I think for sure if there were more lifelong consequences to doping or being caught or missing three tests or bans or things like that [then] people would think twice before they make certain decisions.
“I feel like if the sanctions were higher, if there were more significant consequences, it would have a different outcome. But I’m not in a place to make those decisions so it’s really up to doping and Wada etc so.”
Reflecting further on her fourth-place finish in Paris, Adeleke says she is still learning about the 400m every time she races, and that Sunday’s experience in Silesia proved that again as she “panicked” once the leading runners started to pass her.
“I think it’s something that I’m going to have to personally overcome. It’s something that me and [Coach] Flo were talking about, he’s going to hopefully be able to put me in a place where I’ll be set up in that scenario.
“And I think it’s more so looking back on Paris and thinking what I’ve learned from it and what I can do better. I’m moving past it now and I’m trying to see it for what it is. And trying to have a positive light on it because it’s not a horrible position to be in, I guess.”
Rhasidat Adeleke was speaking at the announcement that Allianz had renewed their partnership with the Olympic Federation of Ireland (OFI).
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