RTE viewers were full of praise for Olympian Rhasidat Adeleke after she appeared on Friday night's Late Late Show. Team Ireland track star Adeleke has had a fantastic 2024 after breaking her own personal best and competing at the Olympics.
While the 22-year-old failed to secure a medal at the Paris Games after agonisingly finishing fourth in both the 400m individual final and 4x400m Women's final, the future is bright for the Tallaght native and she was in a great mood when speaking to Kielty last night.
Adeleke was praised as a 'fabulous' representation of Irish sport as she opened up on how support from home helped her get through her Paris heartbreak. She said: "Seeing the amount of people supporting me and showing me love and still so proud of me."
"I'm very hard on myself as an athlete, I saw that fourth place as defeat. I couldn't get over it I had literally PTSD the following weeks. The fact my dreams didn't come true and I have to wait another four years."
"Seeing the reception I got and seeing how many people were so proud of me took the weight off my shoulders a bit. If I didn't make myself proud I made other people proud and that's something for me to look upon and I still achieved something."
Adeleke recently went viral after meeting with global music superstar Rihanna. It turns out the pop star has been following her journey for the past few years and Adeleke spoke about the encounter.
"I knew she followed me on Instagram two years ago after World Championships in 2022. After that her team started reaching out to me and sending me products and good luck notes for my races and stuff and I thought it was maybe her team and I got the invite for the event and I was able to go this time because it wasn't during the season this time."
"When she saw me she couldn't believe I was there and I didn't realise she would know who I actually was. It was such a crazy moment for her to recognise me and actually be following my journey. It was surreal."
The talented sportswoman will take some time off before returning to training next month.
And viewers praised Adeleke's appearance on the show with one social media user saying: "What an all-round fabulous person Rhasidat is!"
Another added: "Rhasidat Adeleke just oozes class and humility all at once. How lucky we are to have her represent this island. Long may her star continue to rise."
And another said: "Rhasidat is amazing in every way - a superstar."
