Rhasidat Adeleke ran like she absolutely belonged on the big stage last night as she contended for a medal and broke her own national record in the process.
Despite having the toughest draw possible for someone so tall in lane 1, she wound up finishing a creditable 5th and set a new PB of 50.53.
It was a quality performance especially considering she had intended on skipping these European Championships in order to rest after a long, hard season on the NCAA circuit where she is a student-athlete for the University of Texas.
READ MORE: Thomas Barr misses out on 400m hurdle Euro final in heartbreaking fashion
Last night was actually the Tallaght native's 49th race this season but she still found enough in her reserves to put it up to her older peers.
In what was a high-calibre field, it was the Dutch star Femke Bol who took gold while Polish duo Natalia Kaczmarek and Anna Kielbasinksa bagged silver and bronze.
A buzzing Adeleke spoke to David Gillick trackside afterwards with her infectious energy gaining her even more fans.
She said: "I made a mistake in the heats, not the best lane in the final, so I knew I had to get out and hopefully stick with the girls,' she said.
"I gave it all I had, it as enough for a medal, I got a new national record and I’m happy. I wish I just had more in my legs for the last 50. It wasn’t enough unfortunately.
"I’m still new to the 400. My first year to run the 400, hopefully I’m gonna train for it this Fall and let’s see what I can do next year.'
"Honestly, I was really hoping for a medal, but I have to consider everything. This is like my 50th race of the season, I don’t know.
"To come here and to break the national record… and you know, so many people support us in Ireland, I just want to give them something back. Thank you for supporting me, thank you for rooting for me. Every single message, I really, really appreciate.
"I read one message — I don’t know who it was — and it was like, "No matter how you do tonight, I support you, we’re so happy for you," and I was like, "Wow!”'
And when Gillick put it to her that it's now her time, she humbly put forth a wider message on behalf of a budding cohort of Irish sprinters in the wake of her former training partner at Tallaght AC Israel Olatunde also setting a new national mark in the men's 100m.
"Yeah, it’s my time, it’s our time, it’s everybody’s time!
"I’m happy to be here, grateful to God, I’m healthy. So many people get injured at this stage of the year and I’m just grateful to God that I’m still here."
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