Irish sprinter Rhasidat Adeleke has qualified for the women’s 400m final at the 2024 Olympics.
With a time of 49.95, she finished second in the first of three 400m semi-final races.
The Tallaght woman was the only Irish competitor to make it through to Wednesday’s semi-final after teammates Sophie Becker and Sharlene Mawdsley missed out in the heats and repechage.
Rhasidat cruised home in Monday heats in a time of 50.09 and was even afforded a few glances to her left and right as she eased up down the straight.
The 21-year-old’s progression has been consistent throughout her athletic career, and the next step would be to qualify for an Olympic final.
Rhasidat won silver at the European Championships earlier this year and holds seven individual Irish national records.
Only the first two from each semi-final, plus the two fastest losers, will progress.
Rhasidat has the fastest time in the world this year among the eight women in her semi-final, the 49.07 seconds clocked with winning silver at the European Championships in June.
Drawn in lane eight (two to nine are being used), Rhasidat had Salwa Eid Naser from Bahrain for company, the 2019 world champion who has a best of 49.66 from this year and was drawn inside her in lane seven.
But Salwa Naser also ran 48.14 when winning that title five years ago, the third-fastest time in history.