Sonia O'Sullivan gives RTE her verdict on Rhasidat Adeleke's ...
IT WILL be a pity to not see Rhasidat Adeleke run with the mixed relay team this weekend, but her decision is completely understandable to track legend Sonia O'Sullivan.
Adeleke will skip the 4x400m mixed relay at the Olympics to focus on her individual medal prospects, according to reports.
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The Tallaght AC superstar is eligible to run in the 400m, Mixed 4x400m Relay and Women's 4x400m Relay in Paris.
However, she is not expected run in the Mixed Relay heats, which take place on Friday evening.
Team Ireland is set to be led by Chris O’Donnell, Sophie Becker, Thomas Barr and Sharlene Mawdsley.
The quartet will run in Heat 2 alongside seven other countries, with the first three in each heat and next two fastest advancing to the final.
Adeleke's decision not to run in the event means that she can focus on her individual medal prospects in the 400m, the heats for which takes place on August 5.
That will be followed by the semi-finals on August 6 and final on August 7, making for a busy schedule if Adeleke goes all the way.
She was part of the mixed relay team that romped to victory at the European Indoor Championships back in June.
The 21-year-old took home three medals from Rome, including the gold medal in the mixed relay with Mawdsley, Barr, and Chris O'Donnell.
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A silver medal in the Women's 4x400m relay followed, as she, Mawdsley, Phil Healy, and Sophie Becker set a new Irish record time of 3:22.71.
And on an individual basis, Adeleke bagged silver in the 400m, coming within 0.09 seconds of beating Poland’s Natalia Kaczmarek to the gold.
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Speaking on RTÉ, Sonia O'Sullivan explained why Adekele would have seen little benefit from competing in the relay.
She said: "Different decisions will be made when it comes to the Olympics.
"We have to look at this one race at a time.
The mixed relay is one thing, the women's relay is at the very end of the programme.
"Traditionally, that is just a bonus for athletes, it's an extra fun thing for them to do.
The mixed relay is a new event, it's brought in at the start of the programme.
"You will see that most of the best athletes in the individual events won't run that.
"The only one who probably will is Femke Bol (Netherlands), because she's doing the hurdles.
"A lot of the athletes haven't run a race for two weeks.
"They can use these extra races if they need to have a test run or get a run on the track, if it fits in with their programme.
"That will suit some athletes more than others.
"For people like Rhasidat, she has a particularly good training group.
"I'm sure she's down there training with Dina Asher-Smith and Julien Alfred, they can test each other and they can run stuff like that.
"Some athletes really need a race and will want to run the races.
"If you're not that type of athlete, then you can just turn up to the heats and semi-final and use them as your preparation races.
"They don't need those extra relay races at the start.
"They will be used to give other athletes an opportunity to race.
"Lots of countries will have a much greater depth of athletes to choose from than we would have."
Regardless of what events she enters, Adeleke will be a surefire medal prospect as Team Ireland closes in on surpassing their previous record toll of six from London 2012.
