Irish athlete Rhasidat Adeleke announces she is turning professional

After much talk and anticipation Rhasidat Adeleke has confirmed she will forgo her final year of eligibility at the University of Texas in Austin to take up a professional running contract in advance of next year’s Paris Olympics.

Still only 20, and running 400m properly for the first time this year, Adeleke improved her Irish record to 49.20 seconds when winning the NCAA title in Texas last month, already reaching the pinnacle of US collegiate athletics.

Her move into the professional ranks was well flagged, with the Dubliner already set to make her Diamond League debut in Monaco next Friday.

In a statement via social media confirming the move she began with a mark of gratitude: “A once in a lifetime experience, Thank you Texas.”

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She then added: “I’m extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to represent THE University of Texas these past 3 years. I couldn’t have made a better decision! I’d like to thank absolutely everyone who supported me along the way and those that helped me become who I am today. However, I’d like to announce that I am forgoing the remainder of my eligibility and becoming a professional athlete.”

[ Rhasidat Adeleke: ‘I just want to work harder, run faster, that’s what drives me on’ ]

Adeleke’s move follows that of her two big rivals on the US collegiate scene, Britton Wilson and Talitha Diggs also announcing their move into the professional ranks in recent weeks.

On Friday, Adeleke will gets to test herself against Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone for the first time. The world record holder in the 400m hurdles is running the flat event this year and won the US Championships last weekend in a time of 48.71

There’s no doubt Adeleke’s progress in Austin has been truly astonishing, coming as it has on top her academic commitments – Texas known as one of the Public Ivy universities, given its perceived collegiate experience on the level of the hallowed Ivy League schools.

Her coach Edrick Floréal had been insistent he wouldn’t be standing in her way, but would continue to coach her, within the same Austin limits, right through Paris and beyond.

“If the time is right for her to go and make a living out of this, I’ve already told her she can stay at Texas as long as she wants, and I’ll coach her,” he said in May.