Looking well off form and notably tiring, Rhasidat Adeleke had to settle for sixth place in the 400 metres in the Stockholm Diamond League on Sunday evening.
In the second of a double bill of Scandinavian stops in the Diamond League, Adeleke was looking to improve on her fourth place finish in Oslo three nights ago. The 22-year-old from Tallaght faded once again in the homestretch to finish in 50.48 seconds, well down on her Irish record of 49.07 clocked this time last year.
The three women who finished ahead of her in Oslo also took the top three places here, with victory again going to US newcomer Isabella Whittaker in 49.78 seconds as the 23-year-old continues a fine first international season.
Adeleke had run 50.42 in Oslo, but couldn’t improve on that here. Henriette Jaeger from Norway took second, the 21-year-old running 50.07, with Britain’s Amber Anning third in 50.17.
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On another perfect evening for running inside the Olympic Stadium, Adeleke was still in contention for a top-three finish coming into the last 100m, but was passed by her old Dutch rival Lieke Klaver, who took fourth in 50.35, with Martina Weil from Chile running a national record of 50.39 to also get past Adeleke to finish fifth.
At this stage of the season, with the World Championships in Tokyo just under three months away, Adeleke is, by her own admission, not race sharp. Starting in lane four, Adeleke had the three women who beat her in Oslo finish outside her, and looked well placed at 200m, only to lose ground when it mattered.
In Oslo, Anning got past Adeleke in the last 50 metres to claim third in 50.24. She finished fifth at the Paris Olympics last summer, one place behind Adeleke in fourth. She’s since won the World indoor title.
Adeleke had raced two Diamond League meetings over 200m last month, with the 400m races in Scandinavia the first true tests in her specialist event.
“Me and my coach have been working on something different so we’re just trying to get going, get the season going,” she said after Oslo. “The main goal is September so we’re working towards that.
