SPRINT star Rhasidat Adeleke admits the Olympic nightmare that befell Irish team-mate Ciara Mageean helped put her own Paris disappointment into perspective.
Adeleke just missed out on a medal when finishing fourth in the 400m final and, despite a blistering leg from the Dubliner, the Irish women’s 4x400 team were narrowly pipped to bronze by Great Britain.
The 22-year-old insists she still has a bit of “PTSD” from the summer, but seeing how injury ended Mageean’s hopes before the Portaferry woman even got to walk out at the Stade de France was a reminder that “it could have been way worse”.
“Exactly - that’s why I have to appreciate it,” said Adeleke at the launch of KPMG’s research celebrating an inspiring year for women’s sport in Ireland.
“I still kind of had that PTSD from the Olympics, you know. Sometimes I scroll into my camera roll and I just skip through all those pictures. But no, it definitely wasn’t a bad year.
“I’m so used to wanting so much, and I had such high expectations for the year, and I didn’t meet a lot of my expectations, but it definitely wasn’t a bad year.
“I did make a lot of progress in different events, and I think it was a year of growth… I learned a lot of lessons. And I think that’s very necessary to be able to be successful.
“I learned a lot of things I’m going to be able to take into next season, and I would rather learn things earlier on than make these mistakes when I’m supposed to be reaching my peak. “So although I didn’t achieve everything I set out to achieve, I honestly can’t be upset at how I’ve done this year, because it could have been a lot worse.
“I have to see the glass half full.”
