It was sometime during her flight home to Dublin last weekend when Rhasidat Adeleke realised things weren’t going to be the same.
A gentle stare, then a polite request for a photograph. The congratulations on her success in Texas, and best wishes for the Paris 2024 Olympics. That sense of being recognised as the Irish athlete everyone is talking about.
Some things won’t be same but in her first sit-down interview since signing a professional contract with Nike earlier this month, then making her Diamond League debut in Monaco on Friday, Adeleke makes clear that lots of other things will be the same, beginning with that successful training environment at the University of Texas, under her coach Edrick Floréal.
“It’s really cool, I like being back, seeing my family and friends,” she says. “It’s just weird now, like being in the airport on the way here and so many people were asking for pictures and I was like, oh my God, I feel like I’m famous or something.
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“But honestly, I just stay the same as I’ve always been. I don’t let any of the new experiences or pressure get to me, I just want to be the same person I’ve been throughout the years.”
Still only 20, what’s undeniably changed this year is Adeleke also being talked about as a medal contender for next month’s World Championships in Budapest. The 49.20 seconds she ran to win the NCAA Championships is still the fourth-fastest 400m in the world this year – although, even before that, Adeleke was gearing towards that professional move.
It means she won’t be able to compete for Texas any more, but everything else about student athletic life in Texas will stay the same. “Definitely, everything is working really well. Most of the set-up will stay the same, I feel like that’s what works now, and it’s silly to change that before Paris next year.
“I’m still in summer school now, did summer classes through this summer to be able to graduate early. I’ll have one more year of my degree [in Corporate Communications] and I’ll be able to graduate next year.
“And I haven’t signed with an agent yet, it was straight with the companies. It’s something I’m looking at doing now because it’s a lot, trying to deal with it. My coach helps me a lot, I have an attorney, and I didn’t want to rush the agent process. An agent is really important in how you set yourself up, taking care of all your daily activities.
“But the only difference is I’m going to have to take it a little bit more seriously and be a bit more specific with my intentions and try to get everything done, and be on task more.”
Coach Flo, as he’s better known, was also fully behind that move to surrender her final year of NCAA eligibility, making sure it was also her decision.
“I’d ask him what he thought I should do, he’d say, ‘I’m not saying anything.’ He wanted the decision to be completely up to me. Some coaches, a lot of coaches of my friends would be, ‘If you go pro I’m not coaching you.’ They’re very much like selfish, it’s your duty to run for the college.
“But Flo isn’t like that. He’s like, it’s completely up to you. And when I did make the decision and I told him he was like, ‘I think that was the right decision. There were definitely people advising me not to go pro. I’d be on Twitter sometimes and see some articles, and it would be ‘oh, it’s about the money, it’s about this’…
“But it’s not really, it’s just about what’s best for my athletic career going forward. I feel like because the Olympics is next year, it’d be best if I was on my own schedule, and didn’t have to do all the collegiate competitions. That was the main deciding factor.”
She was originally down to race Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone in Monaco, who clocked a world-leading 48.74 earlier this month to win the US 400m title, but she withdrew with injury; Adeleke finished fourth in 49.99, the same time as Lieke Klaver of the Netherlands, the first time since the Tokyo Olympics the top four women all ran under 50 seconds.
“Execution wasn’t great, but I feel like it was a good start seeing as I hadn’t raced since NCAAs. I wasn’t too upset with the performance, we were training through these meets trying to prepare for World Championships so that’s the main goal – to be at my best for that. It could have been better but it wasn’t terrible.”
She’ll race the 200m only at the National Championships in Santry on Saturday, her last race before returning to Texas to complete her Budapest. McLaughlin-Levrone, who moved over from the 400m hurdles, may still be the athlete to beat. That’s the sort of competition Adeleke is relishing, this still her first full season in one-lap racing.
“I feel like, just trust myself, and going off what I feel is right at the time. I haven’t hit the nail on the head yet, I haven’t got it right yet. That’s something I’m still learning. Executing is so important whereas the 100m and 200m is basically going full speed the whole way. But in the 400, knowing your tactics and what works best for you is so important.
“When I made the move, it was about focusing on what I could do in the event, how good I could be, in that it could be my better event. It wasn’t as competitive last year, but this year it has become really, really competitive. That’s just part of the game, some years it becomes really competitive, some years it’s up or a down year. It just could be the year I decide, everyone decides to run 49, 48.
“But honestly it’s fine because I feel like kind of among the pack as well, so I have a chance at being up there with the best.”
As an Allianz Ireland ambassador in advance of the Paris Olympics, Adeleke can expect even more recognition over the next year, but that won’t be changing her at all either.
“Definitely, I’m really excited for the Olympics. I’ve been waiting for it ever since 2021, just to be able to see where I will be next year. I’ve had one year of winter training for the 400m. Before NCAA indoors, I had ran 50.4 and I was like the fastest by about a second.
“When I went to NCAAs and lost by a second I was like, ‘I’m not special’… people are just as good as you if not better, so you need to put more effort in, you can’t think that your talent is going to keep carrying you.
“There’s definitely a lot of things that I could have improved, like my sleep, nutrition, some small things that would really change how I perform into practice and also in competition.
“That’s definitely something that I’m looking to improve when I get into my routine as a pro. And now, when I go to a big meet a lot of professionals, I feel myself I’m on their level now, like we’re kind of on the same page, whereas before, like at the Worlds last year, I felt below them, that I should pay them respect.”
They’ll be paying Adeleke a little more respect too.
